Roommates
by patalano
Summary: Alex just moved to New York and needs someone to share an apartment with. Piper has a spare room up for rent... AU. Vauseman. M for language, drugs and sex.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! A short story, guess I needed something happier than 'How far can we go', and this idea just popped up, so here you go. Written in a rush, so I apologize for any mistakes.**

**As always, reviews and suggestions are welcome.**

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Alex was having a bad day.

Her whole life she had dreamed of living in a big city, somewhere you could go out at 3am and find an open restaurant or meeting open minded people who surrounded themselves with culture, all valid reasons that led her to moving from that quiet and lifeless neighborhood in the middle of New Jersey to Brooklyn, New York.

"The big Apple, the city of dreams", they said. Pffft. More like the city of noise and around 100 people applying for the same low end job with a terrible paycheck, paying ridiculous amounts of rent and almost fighting for a place in line of the new 'hot spot'.

5 months. 5 months in the big city. 5 months with a shitty paying job, writing reviews on independent plays, mostly always boring or annoying, performed by not-so-great actors.

5 months sharing a studio apartment with her best friend. Nicky didn't pay rent – her family was wealthy and her mom gave her the apartment, so the short girl allowed for Alex to move in, rent free. The only problem was the place didn't even have one bedroom – there was only space for Nicky's bed and an air mattress where Alex slept, a couple chairs on the sides of the room and only 10 steps from the kitchen area, no walls separating any spaces apart from the bathroom.

There was absolutely no privacy, but hey, it was free and that should be good enough, right? It wasn't. Alex has always been an introvert at home – she enjoyed sitting in silence, drinking a beer and reading a book, uninterrupted, a ritual she kept since the age of thirteen. Her habits the complete opposite of her current roommate, who enjoyed partying and reality shows far too much for Alex's liking.

Apartment hunting had been harder than she thought. Since she obviously couldn't afford her own place, the only option was finding a roommate, but it couldn't be Nicky, seeing as she didn't have an official job, which meant basically no income, except for the freelance shifts she sometimes worked at a restaurant, so Alex had to share an apartment with someone she had never met before. Unfortunately all the different people and culture you can find in New York also means most people were quite exquisite, like the hoarder or the clean freak she had met earlier in the day.

Alex was relieved to get to Nicky's studio, even if she had to put up with the extremely loud television or her friend's stupid jokes; looking forward to taking a bath while drinking an ice cold beer.

The door was locked, which was odd since Nicky rarely left the apartment, but the confusion went away as soon as she opened the door and took sight of the situation: Nicky was between some girl's legs, eating her out, unaware of the third person inside the apartment

"Shit, Nicky! You could've left a sock on the doorknob!"

Nicky lifted her head and smirked "Sorry. I was starving."

"What for, pussy?"

"You know me so well, Vause" she said, a side smile on her face, as she returned to the task in front of her.

Alex sighed and went inside the bathroom to escape the live sex session that was currently happening in the living room/bedroom/kitchen. She needed her own room.

* * *

About 30 minutes later, Nicky knocked on the door "Coast is clear, Vause, you can come out now"

"I'm really, really tired of getting a front row seat at your sex life, Nick. Just text me or something so I won't run into you and some random girl anymore"

"You could learn a thing or two from my performances" the shorter girl walked to the refrigerator and grabbed two beers, handing one to her friend, who nodded as she took the bottle "Find a new crib yet?"

Alex opened her beer and took a sip "This city is full of weirdos!"

"And we're no exceptions" Nicky said with a smile and then took a sip of her beer

"Ooooh no Nick, I'm serious. I met a fucking hoarder today! Just like the ones on the stupid show you watch! The weirdo had like 20 boxes in the room he was renting and there was absolutely no space for anything else in the other rooms!"

"If you move there, I beg you to take me with you. I've always dreamed of meeting a real life hoarder!"

"I'm sure you'd love that" she took another sip "How'd you get a random girl to fuck you in the middle of the day?"

"Meeehhh, I was bored so I went on Craigslist and she was looking for new friends…"

"You bought home someone you met on fucking Craigslist?! Didn't I just tell you about New York freaks?!"

"Damn right she was a freak. Amazing finger skills. Nice friend, that girl."

Alex rolled her eyes; she REALLY needed her own bedroom…

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**Well, since this is a Vauseman story, you'll meet Piper soon, just hang in there. Don't hesitate to review/pm!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi! The response to this was awesome! Smiled every single time I got a new email regarding the story, so THANK YOU!**

**Another quick chapter as I intend on updating this quite often.**

**Haven't given up on 'How far can we go', a new chapter might be up later tonight, so check that out if you're in the mood for a depressing story haha**

**Ps- if you haven't finished watching Breaking Bad, this chapter contains spoilers.**

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A week later, Alex still couldn't find a roommate that fit in the "normal person" criteria and her patience was running thin. It felt like she had already called or visited half of New York, only to find apartments that either made her claustrophobic or had sad excuses for human beings living in them.

In an attempt to cheer her friend up, Nicky decided to cook them spaghetti for lunch while she handed Alex her notebook, several tabs open on Chrome, many different ads open on a website

"I am NOT looking for an apartment on Craigslist, Nicky" she said, plopping down on the couch and sighing, but kept one eye on the screen, analyzing if maybe she would have any luck searching online

"Aww c'mon, I've found amazing stuff on that site! I mean, look at this lovely painting!" Nicky points to a terrible looking canvas that hung crooked on the wall, a huge grin on her face

"I've seen a youtube video of an elephant making better paintings than that thing"

"Listen, I'd love for you to hang around, you know I would, but you're always bitching about wanting your own space and I promised I'd help you find a new place. I'm sure you can find something decent online"

"Thanks but no, thanks. I'll stick to newspaper ads"

"Yeah, cause they've all been such great options. Just try it, can't be as bad as the guy that said you could live for free as long as you only walked around the place in your underwear… Which wouldn't be a bad sight, but still"

Alex shivered at the memory; the guy was a freaking creep. How much worse could internet ads be? At least some had photos of the apartment and had brief descriptions of the people that she'd share it with. Sure, everybody lies on the internet, but it was her last hope. "Fine. I'll look at 5 ads, MAX!" She got up and grabbed a beer on the refrigerator as she looked at Nicky throwing a piece of spaghetti on the kitchen counter, signaling Alex that it was cooked to perfection.

Lunch was surprisingly good and they sat side by side on the bed while they ate their meals, looking at the screen together

"Yo Vause, this one here is quite cheap, 750 bucks"

"'Not allowed in the kitchen from 10am to 3pm'? What the fuck?"

"Ooooh, do you think they're cooking meth?! We gotta check this one out, give me your phone" Nicky jumped up trying to reach for the cellphone but Alex got to it first

"We're not playing 'Breaking Bad', Nicky"

"Oooh, I love Breaking Bad. Gotta go back to watching it!"

"Hank dies, Walt dies, Jesse lives. Next?"

"Well thank you for ruining it, asshole. Hey, check this one out! 'You must be able to fail a criminal background check, preferably with at last one felony and be at least a level three sex offender'".

Alex rolled her eyes and clicked on another tab with a huge description and some nice photos that showed a nice, open apartment with no furniture. She motioned for her friend to read it:

_"26 - female, part time student looking for a roommate!_

_ONE ROOM AVAILABLE IN 2 AMAZING bedrooms with Hardwood floor!_  
_Beautiful bathroom!_  
_GORGEOUS kitchen!_  
_LAUNDRY and RECREATION IN THE BUILDING!_

_\- SEPARATE AC UNITS !_  
_\- Separate door locks!_  
_\- Brand new bathroom!_  
_\- Great living space!_  
_\- Great closet space!_  
_\- Hardwood floor!_

_JUST 3 BLOCKS TO THE MTA SUBWAY!_

_Tons of bars, restaurant, cafes, grocery just a few paces away!_

_MUST LIKE CATS AND HAVE GOOD CREDIT, GUARANTORS ARE WELCOME!_  
_Only first and security to move in!_

_Call/ Text Piper show contact info to view!"_

"That's the one, Vause! Give her a call!"

"Seriously, Nicky? She sounds like a thirteen year old! Who uses that many exclamation points? And what kind of person is a part time student at the age of 26?!"

"She does sound like a One Direction fan, I'll give you that" Nicky lit up a cigarette "But the place looks nice"

Alex sighed; It was a nice apartment, nice location and the place was apparently new, no visible cracks on the wall or questionable stains on the carpet, not denying that it had potential, so she typed up an email and waited for a reply.

**To: pechapman **

**Subject: Craigslist AD**

**Message: Hi, I saw your ad on Craigslist for a room, is it still available? I'm in Brooklyn right now, need a place as fast as possible and your ad made you seem like a normal person. Please reply.**

**Regards,**

**Alex**

* * *

About 3 minutes later, her phone blinked, showing she had a new email:

_To: Alex(Craigslist)_

_Subject: RE: Craigslist AD_

_Message: Hello, Alex! Yes, the room is still available, but only for a woman, which I hope is your case..? Anyway, do you think we can meet up at Park Slope, since you're already in Brooklyn? There's a bar called South on Fifth Ave. Is 6 ok for you? Please text me to confirm._

_Xx, Piper_

* * *

Guess the part time student life wasn't that busy. She quickly opened the email, frowning and typing a reply

**To: Piper**

**Subject: Craigslist AD**

**Message: I'm sorry, I thought the ad was for an apartment. Not a fan of online dating, but thanks.**

**-Alex**

* * *

That was it. All hopes of getting an apartment going down the drain... Until her phone blinked again.

_To: Alex(Craigslist)_

_Subject: RE: Craigslist AD_

_Message: What? No! I'm not asking you on a date! Jesus! I just want to make sure you're not a weirdo before I show you the room! Text me when you get there._

_Xx, Piper_

Alex let out a small smile; whomever this Piper person was, she seemed innocent and yet persistent, both qualities she thoroughly enjoyed.

* * *

**So they finally found each other. Will they hit it off? Jump in bed together? Maybe hate each other? ;)**

**Please review/PM! Looking forward to suggestions and want to see where you guys want this to story to go, so I can incorporate it to the story and make you guys happy.**

**I'll be messaging everyone that reviewed so far, but I can't reply to guests, so here's a special thank you to them!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I wrote this chapter a few days ago and didn't post it before because I don't really like it, I wanted their first interaction to be better but since you're all so sweet and asked for updates, here you go:**

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Alex walked into the bar and was pleasantly surprised at the atmosphere of the place: wood flooring, red brick walls and old and worn out furniture made entirely of wood. Two male bartenders in their 20's were behind the counter, many alcoholic bottles behind them illuminated by low yellow lights. An old jukebox machine was placed right on the wall parallel to the bar, pinned to the wall and had a really small red bookshelf under it, containing a nice amount of board games such as Candyland and Battleship. The place smelled like beer and amazing food and Alex could feel her stomach growl; not only was she nervous at the idea of finally getting a new place but she hadn't had any lunch or snack.

She ordered a glass of whisky and the bartender was quick and friendly, giving her a soft smile that seemed to calm her down a bit. Gathering courage, she pulled out her phone and found Piper's number, wondering if she should call or text. How are you supposed to just meet someone and move in with them, especially when you've barely met! Trusting your house to a stranger? What if this Piper person was, in fact, a crazy One Direction fan, adorning her walls with posters of teenage boys?! Or a kidnapper? Maybe she lures people in with the offer of a great and cheap apartment and sells their organs? She decided she was being silly and pulled out her phone and sent out a text.

**To: Piper**

**Hey, it's Alex, I'm at the bar, are you here yet?**

_To Alex: _

_Oh, shit, I'm running late. Order me a beer and shot combo?! Be right over_

Well, she already knew two more things about her possible new roommate: she's not punctual and she has a lot of audacity to ask Alex to pay for her drinks before even hearing what her voice sounded like. So far, not so good.

15 minutes later and Piper's drinks already drowned down by an impatient brunette, the door flung open, revealing a tall, skinny blonde girl that had her hair tied up in a messy ponytail, light wash jeans, a light pink v neck t-shirt and white converse, a little out of breath, revealing she would've been even more late if she hadn't ran. Alex was facing the other way, her eyes fixed on the small television that hung on the wall, not really paying attention to it.

_To Alex:_

_Hey, I'm here! Who are you?_

Alex almost jumped up with the sound of her ringing phone when she felt a hand on her right shoulder and turned around, looking at Piper for the first time and being completely mesmerized at the sight

"Hi! Are you Alex?" Piper asked, her breath finally slowing down

"Hey!" she smiled, a bit too wide for her taste "Piper, right?"

"Yes! Hi!" she sat next to Alex and looked at the counter before realizing her shot and beer glasses were empty "Sorry I'm late, I came as fast as I could"

Alex realized the blonde was disappointed that Alex hadn't ordered her drinks, so she called the bartender and pointed at Piper. He soon replaced the glasses with 2 beer and shot combos "Your beer was getting warm, so I asked him to serve you a cold one when you arrived" she moved Piper's drinks closer to the blonde "Cheers?"

Piper's eyes glistened; there was something about the woman standing in front of her, she just couldn't really figure out what, but cheered anyway: "To our apartment!" she said, with the biggest smile on her face, one Alex soon found capable of making her insides move; now, more than ever, she wanted that apartment. They clicked their shot glasses together and drank them, making funny faces and sipping the beers in an attempt to cool their throats down from the burn the vodka shot left.

"So… as you can see, I'm a girl" Alex said as she smirked and moved her seat closer to Piper

"Oh, yes, yes, I'm SO sorry about that! I didn't mean-"

"It's ok, kid" and took a sip of her beer "Wasn't the first time, sure won't be the last"

Piper smiled shyly; she liked this girl. They certainly could be friends, she just knew it.

"I really need to find a place, though, Piper. I'm stuck sharing a studio with my friend and you have no idea how barbaric it is to share such a small space with a human prototype", both girls laughed at the silly joke.

"Well… Alex, I think you'd like the apartment, I mean, it's not much and there's nothing really there yet like plates and stuff because I just moved in, you actually contacted me about 5 minutes after I posted the ad on Craigslist! I guess you were meant to see it!"

"I'm sure I'd love any place that had walls and doors… So, does this mean I have a shot at renting the room?"

Piper smiled at her and ordered two grilled cheese sandwiches, causing Alex to lift an eyebrow at how hungry the blonde sounded; she was definitely slim and didn't look like the kind of person that eats hundreds and hundreds of calories in only one meal. "One's for you"

"Piper, it's ok, you don't have to order me food"

Alex didn't enjoy being told what to do. She was always, ALWAYS in control… But when Piper took control and ordered, she simply didn't mind. Actually, she enjoyed the fact that the girl thought of ordering her something. Every conception she had made about the blonde was crashing down: she was convinced they wouldn't get along, but the blonde was turning out to be quite a pleasant company and not so bad on the eyes.

"You HAVE to try this! Seriously, Alex, it's amazing, you won't regret it" Piper said, placing a hand on Alex's knee, causing a smile to appear on her face

"What else do I need to know about you? Other than the fact you order people food when you don't even know if they've already eaten and that you have a real big and completely uncomprehensive love for exclamation points?"

The blonde lifted an eyebrow at this. Alex had paid enough attention to even notice the excessive amount of exclamation points she had used on the ad. So this was Alex: a mysterious girl with cool looking boots and a worn-out leather jacket… She was different from anything Piper knew; Alex looked like fun, like possible adventures and many drunken conversations that could last for hours…

Finally stepping out of her gaze, she refocused her eyes, looking into Alex's. "Ohhh, well I'm 26, I just moved to the city literally two days ago, I'm going to culinary school and I don't have a job which is why I'm renting the spare room, so I can pay some of my bills… Oh, I have a cat! Do you like cats? Because if you don't, you have to tell me, I can't stand animal violence-"

"Wow, wow, slow down, kid!" Alex chuckled at the blonde, she looked like the most adorable thing she had ever seen. It seemed that everything she hated in others amused her when said or done by Piper, and they had only met about half an hour ago. "You said you don't have a job, so how will you pay your share of the rent?"

"Oh, I don't really pay rent, this place is one of my grandmothers properties and since I had to move to New York for school, she lets me live there rent free" she said proudly

"I see". A rich girl, she should've known: the apartment looked really nice and the asking price was quite low considering New York rent prices. It could be a win-win situation, right?

"You can ask me anything! If we're gonna live together, we should know as much as possible about each other!"

She actually used as much exclamation points in person as she does online. She was also absolutely endearing, and Alex knew she was screwed.

"Alright then tell me: are you a One Direction fan?"

"Yes, I mean, I really like some of their songs and they're all so cute"

"Oh god!"

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**I appreciate everyone's reviews/PMs. If anyone isn't registered on the site and can't PM me but still feels the need to contact me, you can send me a tweet, my URL is in my profile.**

**I'm also wondering if you'd like longer chapters or stick to the way chapters are now(around 1,000 words each) with more frequent updates? **


	4. Chapter 4

**Yep, so... another update in less than 24 hours. As soon as I laid in bed last night, chapter 5 invaded my mind and I had to write it... Which meant I also had to write chapter 4, so here it is. Reason I'm posting so soon is because I seriously cannot WAIT for you guys to read what's next ahaha sooo, here you go:**

* * *

"Oh my god, this is amazing!"

Piper smiled at Alex eagerly biting into her sandwich, her eyes closed as she enjoyed the taste. The blonde took a bite of her own sandwich and let out a small moan at the taste "I know, right?!" and chuckled.

They finished their sandwiches in silence, eventually looking at each other's faces that beamed with satisfaction, trading smiles and feeling unusually comfortable with each other's presence.

"Where did you find this place? I'm kind of in love with it"

"Google! I told you I don't know anything in New York. I only come here because it's one street away from the apartment, that way I don't get lost" the blonde smiled, cleaning the sides of her mouth with a napkin, causing Alex to bite her bottom lip "If you end up moving in we can come here often, you know, maybe make it a weekly thing"

"So there's a chance I will NOT be getting the room?" Alex smirked

"Maybe…" Piper said with a smile, but of course she didn't mean it. She had cut ties with pretty much everything and everyone she knew. She now lived in a brand new city with no friends, but being there with Alex looked like they'd been friends for years. "You could always hate it, or hate me, for that matter"

"I highly doubt that"

* * *

The building was identical to many others in that street; it was grey with 3 floors and a small staircase that lead up to the front door. It looked welcoming and calm, leafs falling from the trees gave it an extra homely touch, and Alex was quick to see herself living in such a nice place – a definite improvement from her hometown.

Piper grabbed Alex's hand as soon as they reached their building and lead her up the stairs, opening the front door and walking up to the second floor. "It's this one" she said as they reached the door, letting go of Alex's hand.

The blonde opened the door to apartment 2B and revealed a nice living room; the walls were painted a light shade of grey, the window frames and ceilings were white and the hardwood floors were shining like new. There were curtains made of a cloth that looked like tweed, but more expensive (although Alex had no idea what it was called), in a light yellow shade that made the room seem bright. There was a single teal colored couch with arm rests on both sides and wooden legs and it was the only real piece of furniture. It was definitely not new, but it still looked really comfortable.

"So, what do you think? I know I need to buy furniture and there's no tv yet but-"

"It's perfect, Piper" Alex smiled at her and laid her hand on one of the blonde's arms "I love it"

"Come on; let me show you your room"

Again, Piper took Alex's hand, this time intertwining their fingers together, making Alex divert her eyes to their connected hands and almost bump her body into a wall.

The room had a great size. Windows occupied most part of the wall in front of them, and it also had an old style white heater by the floor; the right wall had a small closet built into it. The walls and floors were the exact same shades as the living room. It was empty and Alex felt she couldn't even fill half of it with her stuff. A huge improvement from sleeping beside a snoring Nicky.

"Sooo, do you like it? It's not too big but depending on your bed's size you'll be able to fit it here" Piper said, her left hand leaning on the doorframe, an expectant smile on her face as she watched Alex inside the room.

"I love it" Alex turned around and looked into Piper's eyes "And I'm pretty sure my air mattress will fit just fine"

"Really? Like… a water bed?"

"No" she chuckled "An actual air mattress. I don't have a 'real' bed yet"

Piped nodded, still looking into Alex's eyes. "Do you wanna see my room?" she asked bluntly, causing the brunette to lift an eyebrow "So you can see how it looks like with a real bed in it", the blonde blushed.

"Sure"

Piper turned around, shifting her gaze from the taller girl and walked to the next door in the small corridor, opening it to reveal a room slightly bigger than the last one. Instead of one window, this room had two smaller windows on the same wall, adorned with sliding beige curtains and her heater had been painted silver. It was almost unnoticeable but still a nice touch. The bed was really big and looked like the most comfortable thing Alex had ever seen – a fluffy light grey headboard looked like it'd be perfect as a support for your bed during late night readings. 4 huge pillows were scattered around the bed over white sheets, and a white duvet was messily laying on top of everything. A few small boxes were scattered on top of luggage bags and there were a few books peeking out of them. Using one of the windows for support, there was a blue street sign that said 'Rue Cartier Dowes', probably a souvenir bought overseas.

"I'm sorry about the mess; I really wasn't expecting anyone and I didn't have time to clean up before you came"

"I like it. It smells like you"

Piper blushed and Alex walked further into the room, taking a quick glance at the books as the blonde watched her.

"But I have to say I was kind of expecting posters of teenage boys on the walls" Alex said with a smile that quickly faded as she felt a slap on her arm

"I was just messing with you! I don't even know their songs!"

"That's a relief" she looked at the clearly embarrassed girl in front of her and placed a hand on her shoulder blade and they both smiled "In that case... when can I move in?"

* * *

After settling arrangements and signing a few papers, Alex headed to Nicky's studio in order to start packing her things right away, in hopes of moving in with Piper the next day. She didn't really have a lot of things, but she still agreed to let the blonde help her the following morning;

The doorbell rang and Alex was quick to get it, opening the door to reveal Piper, dressed in blue skinny jeans with a few small rips, an oversized cream colored sweater and nude colored flats, a small Prada purse hanging off her left shoulder and her hair was down, falling over the area of her breasts.

"Hey" the brunette stepped aside, giving Piper space to walk inside "I like your hair down"

"Thanks" the blonde blushed and walked further into the apartment, taking sight of a sleeping(and snoring!) person "I take it that's your friend? I believed you called her a human prototype?"

"That's the one"

"You weren't kidding when you said the place was small! Is the rent proportional to the size of the place?"

"No rent. Nicky owns the place" she walked to the kitchen and the blonde followed her close "Her mom gave it to her, I'm pretty sure she hand-picked the smallest apartment she could find just to make Nick upset" Alex shrugged, a little uncomfortable talking about her friend's relationship with her mom "I made coffee, do you want some?"

Piper noticed the change is Alex's mood and sighed in relief when the subject changed to coffee. "YES!" she responded, a bit too eagerly "I mean… yes, I'll have some coffee"

They drank in silence and soon finished packing everything. Piper leaned against the small kitchen's counter while the brunette removed the air from her mattress, before folding it up and throwing it in a luggage bag.

"All set"

By the time they were leaving, Nicky still hadn't moved from the spot she was in bed and Alex decided she'd write a note, sticking it to a beer bottle, making Piper lift an eyebrow and wonder why she chose the beer bottle out of all places. Alex seemed to catch up with her thoughts and replied before Piper could ask "Only place I'm sure she'll find the note"

* * *

After a few arguments, Piper managed to convince her new roommate to catch a cab to their apartment, insisting it was rather 'impossible to carry this stuff in the subway', making Alex roll her eyes at how spoiled the girl was. It wasn't that far away from Nicky's place but it'd still cost some money that she didn't plan on spending, but as soon as they arrived and started carrying the boxes and bags full of heavy belongings up the stairs, they were both glad they'd decided on a cab.

Piper placed the last box in the middle of the almost empty living room and looked at her new roommate who was shifting through the boxes and taking out some old books, probably bought at secondhand bookstores, and she couldn't help but think that was SO Alex. She couldn't describe what that meant; they'd only known each other for less than 24 hours… But it was so real, so full of emotion, so… raw. Alex was just… mesmerizing.

* * *

**I've been getting a lot of amazing feedback saying this story is funny, which is weird because I never intended on it, so I hope you won't be upset if it doesn't really last long haha.**

**I also made these last two chapters a tad longer, since you asked for it, but I understand they're still short, promise I'm working on that.**

**So, do you think they're developing feelings for each other in a romantic way? Will they jump into a relationship or maybe just casual sex? Guess away and please review!**

**ps - i hope you guys are happy that Piper isn't actually a One Direction fan lol I just wanted to create some sort of inside joke between them so I can mention it again later on!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I almost gave up on this story because I seriously lost this whole chapter and then managed to delete the 'notes' file on my phone which had all key points and future ideas for this… and then almost deleted the whole thing again when I turned my computer off before saving it. So yes, I'm a clumsy mess. Decided to keep going because of all the amazing reviews you've left, so, please, keep them coming.**

_This chapter is dedicated to bluepaintbox, who's been really helping me out with this story, so here's a huge thank you to Liz =)_

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They had spent the whole day unpacking, Piper was motivated by Alex's attempts to put everything in place and organize her clothes, so she managed to catch up with the boxes she had been too lazy to go through before. The living room now had a few decorative items like some of Piper's candles and a photo frame. Both women had a considerable amount of books and they decided to put both of theirs together on a stack by the living room window, agreeing they could borrow from each other anytime.

"What's this?" the blonde said as she reached the brunette's bedroom, whilst holding a miniature toilet she found on kitchen counter

"An ashtray"

"Are you serious? Who buys a miniature toilet ashtray?"

"You've clearly never met Nicky. Don't worry, I'll keep it out of your sight"

"You can't smoke in here"

"I won't smoke in the living room, relax"

"No, I mean, nowhere in the apartment! And do you know how dangerous smoking is? One single cigarette contains almost 7.000 toxic substances! It's bad for your health, Alex!" Piper was seriously freaking out by now and Alex couldn't fight her smirk

"Alright, no cigarette smoking"

"…aren't you going to argue with me? Because they're supposed to be addictive and I'm sure you're gonna crave them-"

"I'm sure I'll survive"

"This reminds me, should we create our roommate agreement now?"

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Alex laughed then looked over at Piper, still by the door, but the blonde wasn't laughing or even smiling "Wait, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I mean, nothing too serious, just some simple rules"

"Oookay, like what?"

"I don't know, household chores?"

"You cook, I clean. Next?" Alex said with a cocky smile appearing on her lips

"I'm serious, Alex! We have to figure out who's gonna vacuum and take out the trash or maybe we could hire some sort of cleaning service-"

"Piper" Alex got up from the floor and moved towards Piper "We each clean our own rooms and bathrooms. We can split the common living areas. Or maybe when you cook yourself something, you make enough so I can eat as well, and then I'll take over cleaning. Sounds good?" Her tone was firm and Piper looked startled, only nodding her head in response. "And if you need me to clean up for you or you need me to do anything else, you just tell me, ok? I'll do the same" another nod. Adorable.

The taller girl returned to her air mattress but Piper wasn't ready to drop the conversation yet "Hey, listen, my old roommate… Um, let's say I've been graced with my fair share of running into naked strangers, so if you could give me a heads up when you have a guy over, you know, so I'll be sure to be dressed all the time and hopefully they will, too" she lifted her eyes to an smirking brunette

"Surely won't be a problem"

"I mean, I'm alright with you having guys stay over, just not a big fan of having a strangers genitals shoved in my face in the morning"

"Kid, I'll make sure my female 'friends' put some clothes on before they leave my room"

"Oh" Piper tried to hide the surprise and the blush in her face, but it was a failed attempt, seeing the way Alex had a smug smile on her face "Oh, okay. Okay"

* * *

Most of Alex's work was done at night, seeing as she wrote reviews for plays and almost all of them happened during the evening. It was a Saturday and miraculously she had to attend a Broadway play, finally something worth watching and not just some monologue written by a 50 year old bald fat guy with really weird fetishes.

"Do you ever look at anything other than your phone's screen?" Alex walked into Piper's room, the blonde laying back on her bed with her fingers moving fast across her iPhone's screen.

Piper looked up and showed her tongue "I'm just texting with a few people"

"You know, I have to watch a Broadway production tonight, I got an extra ticket if maybe you wanna come"

"Shit, I can't, I have… plans"

"Thought you didn't have any friends in New York?"

"I don't, I've kind of got a date"

"Oh, ok, cool" the brunette shrugged, walking towards her room and closing the door, something neither her nor Piper had done before.

Something about Piper having a date sounded annoying and just wrong and Alex thought for a second she could be jealous, but she hadn't invited Piper to the show as a date, it'd been a friendly invitation, something to get her out of the house and actually see more of the city… Right?

She thought about inviting Nicky, but to be honest she had way too many things on her mind and being alone would allow her to put some feelings in order. She was finally getting somewhere in life: new city, new job, new place… And a new friend: Piper. Alex had been constantly thinking about how much she likes Piper, how she feels a connection between them but also how cute and enjoyable the blonde was. Alex had been smiling lot more often, and it felt good. She felt genuinely happy.

* * *

Piper hadn't even started dressing for her date when Alex left for work, wearing a pair of skin tight leather pants and a black blouse with black pointy heels, looking absolutely gorgeous. She kept thinking she should've cancelled her date, after all it was just a guy she barely knew.

Alex should've been her priority, it was very important for them to get to know each other so they could live in harmony, and the brunette just seemed so fascinating to Piper, she could listen to her talk all day long, there was so much determination in that voice and the blonde swore she would never get sick of that sound… Which was exactly why she had decided on going to her date: her level of attraction to Alex was really high and scary, not necessarily in a sexual way, but an intense and sudden connection; she really enjoyed their time together.

Piper got lost on the way to her date but after asking a few strangers for directions, she finally reached it. It was an almost blind date, seeing as they had met through social media, but Jake seemed like a nice guy: as they exchanged texts, she learned he was polite, successful and loved animals. His photo showed a nice looking guy in his early 30's and Piper had agreed to meet him for drinks.

Confusion appeared on her face as she saw the man that was approaching her: it was definitely Jake, but around 10 years older. He introduced himself with a handshake and sat across her, ordering drinks and food for both of them, not even giving the blonde the time to contest. She assumed he was trying to be a gentleman, but he was so annoying talking about himself and completely ignoring the fact he was much older than he claimed to be. Their appetizer arrived, barbecued shrimp, and before Piper could even reach for her fork, he grabbed her plate, serving her part of the food and cutting her shrimp in half. She almost asked if he was also going to feed her but decided on not giving him any more ideas.

The blonde had had enough, the guy was acting like she was 5 years old and he was her dad. He might've been amazing for girls with daddy issues but that was not her case. She just wanted to get away from him, making something up and leaving as soon as she could and catching a cab home.

She arrived home to an almost dark living room, only lit by some of the candles Piper had placed all around the apartment and the lamp beside the couch, lighting up the book Alex was reading as she sat on the couch, her feet propped up.

"You know, you said date but I think the right name was 'speed-dating', cause I'm sure you're back way earlier than you would've had there been a happy ending"

"Oh, don't even talk about it! The guy was insane!" Piper dropped her jacket on the floor by the door, making Alex cringe, and walked further to the kitchen "Wine?"

"Sure, why not" Alex grabbed her bookmark and closed the book and put it on the floor, sitting up straight so Piper could seat beside her.

Piper served Alex a glass of wine and sat on the couch, her back turned to the armrest and facing Alex's profile, bending her knees up on the couch and wrapping one arm around them, the other holding her own glass. "I think it was the worst date of my life, Al"

"It probably wasn't that bad. Where did you meet him?"

"On Tinder…"

"Jesus, Piper. You really need to stop using shitty websites"

"Hey, don't talk bad about Craigslist!"

"That place is like a psychiatric hospital!"

"Well it got me you, didn't it?"

Alex smiled and turned to Piper, her eyes shining in a different way and the most sincere smile she could ever recall adorning her face. Not a bad end of a Saturday night: red wine and Piper Chapman.

* * *

**I know I said there was going to be an intense scene in this chapter but after your reviews and a conversation with Liz, I've decided to postpone that. Don't worry though, it wasn't smut between them and it might be on the next chapter.**

**Everytime I get a review, it gets me pumped up to write more; I guess I fall a bit back in love with this little story, so if you can, please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hiiiiiiiiiii!**

**Really small update and I apologize for that, I've just been a bit sick so I'm a tad behind on writing.**

**To the anon that called me cruel for not updating my other story, I apologize and promise I'm working on it!**

* * *

Alex has always had a strong sex drive and, for some reason, she was extremely turned on today, but seeing that it was still 2 in the afternoon and finding someone to take care of her needs would be ridiculously hard and time demanding, she decided she'd take care of her needs by herself as soon as she got home from a work meeting.

Opening the apartment's door, she wanted to make sure she was alone before starting

"Pipes? You home?" she asked, for the first time hoping not to hear her roommate's voice.

"ALEXXXXX" Piper cried out and Alex's first thought was 'shit, gonna have to be quiet', but the blonde's voice seemed desperate "ALEX, COME HERE" the blonde screamed from inside her bathroom. The door was half open, so Alex knocked

"Forgot your towel?"

"Please come in"

The brunette walked inside, only to find her roommate on the shower floor… completely naked. Swallowing her own saliva and closing her legs together, she finally snapped out of her daze and realized something was off.

"I fell, I think I broke my arm, please help me" Piper said almost in tears as Alex quickly kneeled down, trying to see any signs that her arm was actually broken

"Can you move it?"

"It hurts"

Alex laid her hand on Piper's face and caressed her cheek with her thumb "I know it does, but can you move it?"

She reluctantly attempted to move and actually managed to do so, causing Alex to sigh in relief

"I don't think it's broken but we better take you to a hospital, here, let me help you up" she said, placing both of her hands under the blonde's armpits, her arms lightly brushing against Piper's breasts as she lifted her up and stood up in front of her, turning around to grab a towel. Returning her gaze to the injured girl, she realized Piper was crying. "Piper, it's ok, I'm here"

After wrapping the towel around Piper, Alex held on to her with an arm wrapped around her waist and led them to the bedroom, grabbing some underwear and a loose sweatshirt from the closet and handing them to their owner

"I can't put them on by myself"

Alex just nodded, kneeled down and motioned for Piper to place her legs between the holes and lifting her panties up but gasped when her eyes reached Piper's center, only a few inches away from her face. Thankfully, the blonde let out a small laugh in discomfort and Alex was able to come back to her senses and lift it all the way up, doing the same with the sweatpants. She then proceeded to put a bra strap slowly around the injured arm and Piper put the other arm around it herself. Alex's mind was racing and she stupidly thought the only way to close the bra was to put her arms around the blonde's body, almost hugging her, and closing the clasp behind her back.

"I won't hurt you, ok? I need to move your arm a bit to put it inside the sleeve of the sweatshirt, I got you a loose one so I won't have to move it around too much"

Piper nodded but couldn't hold back a groan and a tear falling from her eye as she felt a jolt of pain as Alex put it on, causing the brunette to look at her and all Piper could see in those grey eyes was fear. Alex was terrified but she would never admit it, trying to cover her emotions as she put the other girl's shoes on and carried her to the hospital.

* * *

They made their way back to the apartment, Piper leaning against Alex like a child that clings to their mom when they get injured, heading to the bedroom and sitting on Piper's bed as they were greeted by her cat, Olivia.

"I'm gonna hang this towel and mop the bathroom floor, do you need anything?"

Piper pouted, not knowing how to put what she needed into words: her arm wasn't broken and she didn't even need a cast, but it still hurt like a bitch. "Stay here with me"

Alex chuckled at the pout but kissed Piper's head and ran her fingers over her now dry hair "I'm not going anywhere, except maybe for food. Are you hungry?"

"Yessss, wine, please"

"That's not food" Alex chuckled "And I don't think it's a good idea to drink alcohol after taking painkillers, Pipes"

Another pout and Alex felt something clenching in her chest, like that lip movement was the most heartwarming thing she'd ever seen. She could never say no to Piper.

"One glass only, ok? I'll order us pizza and we can watch something on Netflix"

Alex rarely asked questions, she always made statements, and it fascinated the blonde. She was always so certain and confident about her actions and Piper felt like her roommate could keep her safe under any situation. Alex was genuinely sweet and caring, even if she tried to hide those qualities behind her tough image;

Sometime during the second movie they were watching, Piper removed her head from the crook of Alex's neck and looked up at the her face while they were sitting very close together under the covers, Alex's arm around her body and hand caressing the side of her body and she simply smiled, glad the girl hadn't noticed the way the blonde was studying each of her facial features. By the time she had memorized that whole side of her face, she slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep with her head on the taller girl's shoulder.

* * *

Piper opened her eyes the next morning to an empty bed and immediately felt saddened by it, but the pain from moving her arm quickly made those thoughts disappear and she concentrated on finding something to numb the pain.

Walking inside the kitchen she noticed something on the counter: a bottle of pills and a note;

"I have a very important job interview this morning that I couldn't miss, but I bought waffles(they're inside the oven so the cat won't eat them). There's also juice in the refrigerator. Don't go all crazy on the pills and please don't take them on an empty stomach. Text me as soon as you can so I know you're ok. – A"

Suddenly forgetting about the pain, the blonde searched for her phone and typed a quick message

**To Alex: I'm so glad I have you.**

She had considered using a different word than 'have', but her mind was already made up. She had to have Alex for herself.

* * *

**I knowww you're all thirsty for smut but I don't want to rush them into it; they've known each other less than a week now, but they're already developing stronger feelings for each other so they obviously won't be able to keep their hands to themselves.**

**Do you think Alex feels the same way or she just wants to be friends/fuck buddies?**

**Will Piper take the lead or will she chicken out and wait for Alex to go after her? Should I add a little drama to this or do you just want them to get it on?**

**Please review =)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Thank you to everyone that reviews, you make my day and I swear I re-read each one of them at least 15 times.**

* * *

Alex finally managed to carry that huge box up the stairs and inside the apartment. She laid it down on the floor, leaning against the wall for support so the tall box wouldn't fall flat on the floor. She threw her leather backpack on the couch and headed to Piper's bedroom. The door was wide open and Piper's eyes lit up as soon as Alex walked in.

"Hey, kiddo" she walked towards the bed and planted a kiss on Piper's head "How's your arm?"

"It hurts" she said, pouting in a teasingly manner

"Did you take the pills? Did you eat first?"

"Yes Alex, I ate my waffles, I took the pills, in that order" the blonde smiled and grabbed Alex's hand, pushing her to sit on the bed beside her "How was the interview?"

The brunette's eyes were gleaming with happiness "I got the job! And I bought us something, come see"

'Us'? Fuck, did she really say that? Neither one of them believed their ears. Since when were they a 'us'? Did it mean Alex considered her more than a friend? She wanted to regret it, but couldn't bring herself to it.

Piper's mouth was hanging open as she finally stepped out of her daze and took sight of the box, realizing what was inside "You got a tv! A big tv! You don't even like tv!"

Alex shrugged but smiled at the fact the blonde remembered their conversation about electronic devices and how the brunette despised most of them, saying they were over-used. "I always wanted to have enough money to buy one of these, plus, this one has access to Netflix. Don't get me wrong but I'm kinda blind and your laptop screen isn't very big"

"So you bought a tv before you actually got a real bed? You're weird, Alex"

"That's why they call me 'the whole package'" she smirked and winked before the blonde nudged her with her good arm.

Piper was right and Alex actually spent hours thinking about why she had done that. Maybe it was her subconscious reminding her how much she enjoyed watching movies while cuddling with her roommate? No, Alex Vause doesn't do cuddling. She only cuddled with Piper because she had a rough day, despite not having a real injury, just a sprint… Alex tried to convince herself she'd gotten the tv because it was on sale and also, yes, because she didn't think she would ever be able to afford something nice like this. Her whole life so far had been very modest but Alex was determined to change things around and it felt amazing to see her dreams coming true.

* * *

Piper was about to leave for class. It was still early morning and she had no idea if Alex even returned home last night, but as she made her way past the other bedroom's door, she noticed it was open so she peeked inside only to see a sleeping Alex, still dressed in last night's clothes. Piper walked back to her room, grabbed a sheet from her own closet and threw it on top of the sleeping girl before leaving for class.

As soon as she realized she forgot her chef's knifes on the kitchen, Piper decided to head home and take the opportunity to change into a warmer jacket as she felt the cold wind blowing. She got to the apartment and grabbed her knifes from the kitchen and walked towards her bedroom to get the jacket as she passed by Alex's door; it was still open so she figured she was probably still asleep…

"HOLY SHIT!"

Piper stood still by the doorframe, her mouth hanging wide open in shock at the sight: Alex was still laying on her mattress, except now she had one of her hands on her bare chest, fondling her right breast and her other hand was moving inside her black panties.

Alex instantly froze at the sound and her eyes shot open; she removed her hand from her panties and covered both breasts with her other arm, slightly embarrassed at the situation but she couldn't help but notice that Piper hadn't looked away, a smirk appeared on her face as she decided to tease her roommate "You're staring. Like what you see?"

"ALEX!" Piper blinked quickly and shook her head but her thoughts remained on the brunette pleasing herself, making her stomach turn and a shiver to run down her spine "You were masturbating!"

"Yeah, I think I already knew that" she grabbed the shirt that had been lying on the floor and put it on "I wasn't expecting you home, you were gone when I checked"

"You checked if I was home?"

Alex got up on her feet as she nodded "Hence why I didn't bother closing the door. But I can't help but think you liked the view" she walked past the blonde, inside the bathroom and closed the door, leaving an astonished Piper staring at the air mattress.

* * *

"You know what, I'm actually regretting buying that tv. I mean you've definitely improved from online dating apps but seriously, do you ever do anything that doesn't require a screen?!"

Piper stuck her tongue out and sat up on the couch, patting the empty seat beside her. Alex sat down and turned to look at Piper "I can do a lot of things without anything electronic"

Alex lifted an eyebrow and smirked "Really? What kinds of things?"

Piper blushed. Alex has always been very flirty and straight forward, but she didn't seem bothered at all by their previous encounter, acting like it was no big deal, nothing worth discussing. "I can cook"

"You use an iPad to read the recipes!"

Piper opened her mouth, trying to seem shocked and offended and Alex expected her to smile; instead, her expression turned quite serious as she spoke in a lower tune, almost whispering "I don't want to screw them up"

The brunette lifted an eyebrow "You know you wouldn't screw up, your food's amazing"

A small smile finally appeared on her face "I always screw up somehow. Always have, always will. That's why I'm 26 with no job and I'm just starting culinary school. I screw things up a lot."

"Stop putting yourself down, seriously" Alex lifted Piper's chin with her index finger, looking into her eyes "You're gonna be an amazing chef. Don't let anyone tell you different"

Piper nodded as her eyes teared up. She could never stick to something and that was a big disappointment for her parents, who always judged her decisions as immature and precipitated, they seemed to have lost hope their daughter would ever win at life. She has never felt good enough for them because she didn't meet any of their expectations and standards. She has never been good enough.

Alex knew Piper was consumed in thoughts but didn't dare ask any questions. Clearly, something was wrong; something had hurt her so deeply that the scar was still fresh. Not knowing how to help the blonde, Alex felt some weird feeling in her chest, wishing there was any way she could remove that pain from Piper, and the only person that had ever made her feel that before had been her mom. She felt protective towards Piper, once again, only this time on an even deeper scale, and that thought alone was already very scary.

As if reading her thoughts, Alex put an arm around Piper and pulled her into a hug, her chin resting on top of the blonde's head "You're good enough for me." Those words hit Piper hard and she was no longer able to hold back the tears that fell from her eyes as she hugged the brunette back and hid her face on the crook of Alex's neck.

They stayed in an embrace for a good 10 minutes and the blonde had finally stopped crying sometime around that. When her breathing returned to normal, Alex kissed her head and used her free hand to type something on her phone. She then took Piper's hand, lifting both of them up "Come on, let's go"

"What? Go where?"

"You'll see"

* * *

"Alex, why the hell are we going to New Jersey?! It's freezing here! I want to go home and hide under the covers in bed for the rest of the day!"

"You surely enjoy rambling, huh?" Alex took Piper's hand and intertwined their fingers, trying to give them some warmth, which Piper instantly felt as she blushed at the contact "We're almost there, just hang on"

They got off the subway with their arms linked, walking really close together as Alex's checked a map on her phone with her other hand. They walked for about 15 minutes when Alex stopped and looked at the store in front of them and smiled "We're here"

Piper turned her face and started at what was in front of them "I've always wanted to come here! How did you know?"

"I see you watching Cake Boss all the time, kid. Safe bet"

Piper smiled from ear to ear, squeezing the brunette's hand and staring into her eyes before pulling her jacket's collars and bringing her close and locking their lips together.

* * *

**I apologize if the updates won't be as frequent, I have a lot going on right now and I'm just not in a happy place to write the cute/fluffy story you guys deserve. I almost regret putting this chapter out but I needed to write this note so I wouldn't leave you hanging.**

**Please review, it really motivates me to write.**


	8. Chapter 8

**I got so many amazing reviews that I started typing away and realized there was already more than 7.000 words, so I broke the chapters down, but they're still a tad longer than usual.**

**Please don't kill me for this chapter**

_Also, more than a hundred followers? This is insane!_

* * *

It wasn't a real kiss – their lips were just pressed together for about 10 seconds but Alex didn't move away. Instead, she smiled as Piper removed her lips from Alex's and looked into her eyes

"What was that for?"

"Shit, I'm sorry Alex, I, I don't-" Piper's words were interrupted as Alex kissed her cheek and put an arm around her, opening the door for them and walking inside Carlo's Bakery.

Alex, however, didn't say anything about the kiss and didn't try to kiss Piper again – something the blonde found very unusual; Alex didn't look like the type that takes things slow, hell, Piper thought Alex would be inside her by now, unless... Unless she simply didn't want to kiss Piper, as if she had no romantic feelings for her whatsoever.

Piper decided to keep quiet and enjoy Alex's company as she took sight of her dream bakery, not quite believing what she was seeing. The brunette chuckled at Piper's dazed expression "Choose anything you want, kid. My treat."

Piper managed to decide everything she was going to buy after about 20 minutes and a bazillion questions asked to the person working behind the counter. She bought a huge variety of cupcakes, brownies, cookies and even a few cannoli's, all in a takeout bag. She'd bought enough for both of them, hoping to spend the night on her couch with Alex, drowning themselves in sugar and wine.

However, her plans came crashing down as they arrived home and Alex quickly headed to her bathroom, fixing her makeup and grabbing a jacket, checking her watch a mumbling a "sorry, I have this… thing I can't miss"

"Oh, ok… Yeah, sure, do you want me to save you anything for when you return?" the blonde motioned to the big bag, but Alex shook her head no when she opened her door "Eat all you want Pipes, I'm not coming back tonight".

Realizing Alex was leaving for a date and would probably end the night in someone else's bed, Piper reached for the cupcakes and the bottle of wine, making her best Bridget Jones impression as she ate and drank alone on the couch, her heart starting to crack.

* * *

"I actually like your cat" Alex said as she pet Olivia, sitting beside the half-awake cat on the couch "Come here, let me try something"

Piper hesitated but moved closer to them and kneeled down on the floor, trying to hide her annoyance as she felt a pang on her chest caused by Alex's date. It didn't help at all that Alex had ignored their kiss, only hurt the blonde more, but Alex ignored her rudeness, completely oblivious to the blonde's thoughts and too amazed by what she'd discovered

"Try to make eye contact with her"

The blonde lifted an eyebrow in confusion but obliged "…now what?"

"Shit, this is awesome. Keep looking into her eyes and blink slowly" Alex chuckled as the blonde did as she was told "Now look at her!"

Olivia had been keeping eye contact with her owner and as soon as Piper opened her eyes and looked back inside her cat's, the small green eyes slowly blinked back at Piper.

"It works!" Alex exclaimed, looking like she wanted to high five herself.

"What was that?!"

"If your cat loves you and you blink at them, they blink back as a way of blowing you a kiss… or as a way of saying they love you. One of these, I forgot which one" she shrugged

"How'd you know that?" Piper put an arm around her cat and pet it with her other hand

"I might've googled something about cats. I've never had a pet and accidentally killing yours wouldn't be a very pleasant experience. Plus, you'd kick me out"

"I would" Piper punched Alex's knee as she smiled "Why don't you get a cat? Olivia could use a friend"

Alex shrugged. "It's too much of a responsibility; I mean how many years do they usually live for?"

"Something like 10 to 15 years"

"See, that's a lot. I couldn't have an animal for that long"

Piper looked at her in confusion "Why not?"

"I don't do commitment, kid" another shrug "I was raised to avoid it"

Piper nodded and thought for a second before angrily getting up from where she had been sitting on the floor, going inside her room and closing the door, even turning the lock on, without saying a word. Alex sat with a confused look on her face and the phrase "What the fuck just happened?" playing over and over in her head.

* * *

As the weekend approached, Alex was leaving work and decided to text her roommate

**Alex: Hey, I'm heading home, do you want Chinese or pizza?**

_Piper: Neither_

**Alex: Thai, then?**

_Piper: I don't think I'm going home tonight_

**Alex: Is everything ok?**

_Piper: Fine_

Alex sighed at Piper's coldness, suspecting it had something to do with last night's date, but not daring to ask. If she wanted to be a bitch, they could play the same game.

Piper didn't want to admit it but she was hurt, heartbroken even. She didn't want to allow Alex to stay inside her head all the time, but couldn't help it. If Alex didn't want her, fine. She would stay away and the first step was not to hang out with her roommate and avoid contact as much as possible.

* * *

The next week went by and both girls barely spoke to each other apart from the usual "good morning", "good night" and an occasional nod. They no longer greeted each other as they arrived and left the apartment, Piper only cooked a couple of times and never enough for both of them, but always leaving some of it in the fridge, deep down wishing Alex would find it and eat, but she should've known better because the brunette would never do so; She had too much pride and would never bend.

However, Alex couldn't help but want to touch and talk to Piper. She missed her and seeing the girl get ready for school or for occasional dates she knew would suck, because no one could ever be good enough for Piper, her included, because Piper was amazing. Amazing and so fucking childish. Alex instantly became upset at Piper's behavior – the date she went on had been planned days before their almost kiss and it would be a terrible move to bail on Lydia. They'd been fuck buddies for quite a while now and while Alex found her personality extremely annoying, it'd always been only about sex and there was no denying both of them were good at it. Not to mention Lydia was a bit psycho – Alex feared she'd trace her down and bang on her door for hours if she cancelled their plans. "Psycho" also happened to be the nickname Nicky had given her and that was for a reason. There was absolutely no way Alex could bail out but as soon as they got to bed, she wasn't even in the mood, for the person in her mind was not the one that had been lying under her.

* * *

"Are you telling me that blondie walked in on you fucking your fingers?!"

Alex sighed; Nicky always rewords phrases to make them unbelievably more barbaric. "Something like that"

"Oh man, this is the highlight of my week! Did she join you in some sort of a fingering party?" the shorter girl smirked but Alex rolled her eyes

"God, Nicky, you're disgusting… No, of course she didn't join me. And now she's acting like a 5 year old"

"She probably thought she had nothing on your magical sex powers and didn't want to let you down" Nicky took a sip of her beer and laid it on top of their table, sitting on a chair across the table from the taller girl. "Why the fuck are you so worried, though? I'm quite sure it wasn't the first time someone walked in on you"

"It's not just that… She kissed me"

"Whaaaat? Blondie made the first move?! Shit, I have to meet this girl! So did you two jump into bed or fucked in a good old bathroom stall?"

"I didn't do anything, I couldn't. She's not someone I can just fuck and pretend she doesn't exist, Nick, we live together and-"

"HOLY SHIT, Vause! You like her! You fucking like the bitch!"

Alex fixed her glasses, showing how uncomfortable she was and shrugged her shoulders "It doesn't matter if I like her"

"Why not? You scared she's gonna get jealous when you bring other girls home? Is she clingy?"

"Because I can't risk losing this apartment"

"We all know you're gonna get inside her at some point"

"I can't… I don't do relationships, Nick, you know that"

"Okay, Alex" the brunette's eyes quickly moved to stare at Nicky. Hearing her first name drop out of her friend's mouth was really rare, so she instantly knew the shorter girl was being serious for once

"Listen to me because I'm only saying it once and if you ever tell someone I said this I'll cut your throat and dump your body off the Brooklyn Bridge" Alex nodded "Good. I've known you for a long ass time and I know how you're changing everything in your life. You moved to a new place, you got a new job, you're conquering a shitload of stuff, but you insist on living exactly the same way when it comes to letting people in, how fucking stupid are you?! Why is it so different from everything else you've already changed and ended up being fucking awesome? Sure, blondie might be a pain in the ass and it could turn out worse than sucking dick, but shit you've been through those same possibilities with everything else, so just fucking change again and give her a shot! Ever considered the possibility that maybe someone can _add_ things to your little happiness list?! Why the fuck would you not want that?" she took a deep breath to catch some air after blurting all that out, shaking her head in disbelief and finishing her beer in a single gulp "If it doesn't work out at least you'll add another pussy to your vast collection" she was finally back to her usual self, words accompanied by a smirk.

Before she could say something, still very surprised by how serious her best friend had been and how it all actually made sense, she noticed someone walking inside the bar.

"Shit" Alex tried to hide behind Nicky "Shit", who turned to see what Alex was looking at when she saw a tall slim girl come inside the bar, walking towards their direction while talking to a short red head.

"Shit, she's hot, you know her?"

"That's Piper!" she answered in the lowest tone possible

"Oh, this has been such a great day!" Nicky stood up smiling and waved frantically at Piper "Hey, blondie! Get over here!"

Alex buried her face in her hands, shaking it in disbelief. Piper noticed Nicky and started looking behind her shoulders to find who this 'blondie' person was, but she soon realized the girl was talking to her when she saw the person sitting with her was Alex.

Piper frowned; 'how dare she let her stupid girlfriend talk to me', her thoughts interrupted by Alex who had considered her friend's speech, the girl stood up and introduced Piper to Nicky, who was already asking the waiter for an extra chair so they could all sit together, but Piper still shook her head and said they didn't want to bother them.

Before Nicky could think of something witty to say, Alex grabbed her roommate's wrist "Only one drink. You promised you'd meet Nicky". She was back to making statements, and the blonde found herself nodding and sitting down before she even managed to remember how mad she was, but it was too late now. "One drink"

* * *

As Nicky hit on Piper's friend they learned was from Culinary School, the two roommates were pretending to look around the bar but their gazes often met, making them look away. The blonde realized her friend actually seemed interested in the conversation she was having with Alex's friend; she stood up and headed towards the bar to grab another drink.

She felt a shiver run down her spine as Alex walked up behind her, putting a hand on the end of Piper's back and spoke really close to her ear, her voice raspier than usual "Put it on my tab"

"I can pay for own my drinks, Alex"

"Yes, but I'm still buying you one. You're welcome", she said, making the blonde roll her eyes but accept the drink

"Thank you"

Piper decided to get away from the brunette and walk back to their table but Alex pulled her close "Why are you acting weird?"

"Wouldn't you like to know" she tried to walk away but Alex still grabbed her arm

"Yes, I would" she loosened her grip "I miss you"

"You see me almost every day, Alex"

"Fine, be an asshole" she finally let go of her arm

"Oh _I'M_ an asshole?! You know what, fuck you, Alex"  
"What the fuck did I do to you?"

"Nothing, Alex. You didn't do _shit"_ she slammed her drink on the counter, almost shattering the glass and walked back to the table, but her friend was too hung up on Nicky, so she grabbed her purse and stormed out of the establishment by herself.

* * *

She had once again ran away from her problems and hated herself for it – she truly believed Alex had no idea what she'd done to hurt her, because Alex isn't the kind of person that doesn't admit her actions, but also because she had absolutely no reason to lie; she had been trying to hang out, paid for her drink and offered to buy her takeout, but also because she knew Alex definitely didn't let people in or worry about people's feelings the way she did with Piper, she just knew it.

She then regretted every single one of her actions, except for their kiss. That one she didn't have the guts to even want to forget. No, she wanted to keep that memory for a long, long time.

* * *

**Please review!**

**ps - Olivia is actually the name of Taylor's cat =)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Since you asked, here's a longer chapter. **

**25 new followers after the last chapter, this is insane! Thank you to each and every single one of you!**

**This chapter is out thanks to bluepaintbox, so if you like it, huge credit goes to her! She's still giving me great feedback and ideas before I update.**

* * *

Piper woke up in the middle of the night, the drinks she had previously taken already showing her signs of dehydration, causing the girl to head to the kitchen for a glass of water. She passed by the living room with her eyes still almost closed, but stumbled into something as she returned: Alex's legs were dangling off the couch that was too small to accommodate her, mouth half open and eyes closed, dressed in sweatpants and a sweatshirt in an attempt to warm up and snuggled up to the blonde's cat, but it was still obvious that she wasn't comfortable and would have a terrible back ache in the morning.

The blonde sighed, trying to decide if she should just go back to bed and pretend she didn't see anything or to wake the girl up. She decided for the latter and placed her cold hand on Alex's cheek, making her shiver a bit but remained asleep. Piper noticed how soft her skin was and caressed her cheek with her thumb, causing the brunette to yawn and open her eyes as little as possible, not really able to focus on who was waking her up without her glasses.

"Go to bed, Alex" she nudged the sleeping girl as she yawned

A groan and another yawn came from Alex, showing she wasn't completely awake yet.

"Alex" the blonde called out as she shook her shoulder "Alex"

"Whaaat?"

"You gotta go to bed, your back will be ruined if you keep sleeping here"

"Can't" was all she muttered, still half awake

"I'll help you, come on, get up"

"No, I can't" she scratched her eyes "Your cat apparently thinks my air mattress is also a scratching pole and now the air's gone"

"Shit, Olivia!" Piper poked the sleeping cat that didn't even flinch

"Let me go back to sleep"

The blonde took a deep breath, afraid of what she wanted to say, but realized Alex probably wouldn't remember their conversation and decided to go for it "Come on, you can sleep in my bed"

Alex's eyes were both open now; was she seriously being invited to share a bed? Piper was probably just being nice and feeling guilty for being a dick at the bar… or by her cat's actions… Sure, they had been flirting since they met, mostly in a joking matter, but still… Did it mean anything else other than just sleeping? She tried to sit up and a sharp pain shot through her lower back, making her realize the couch would really screw her up, she nodded, allowing the blonde to hold her hand and lift her up, leading both of them into her bedroom.

Alex laid down on her back and almost moaned at how comfortable the bed was. Piper laid beside her and pulled the covers up, covering both of them and staring at the already sleeping girl beside her. She whispered "I'm sorry" and closed her eyes.

Piper woke up feeling one of Alex's arms around her waist, her face really close to the blonde's head, and realized how stunning this girl was, especially during morning time – her skin was flawless, her cheekbones protuberant and those full lips... She traced the rose tattoo on the arm that was still around her body and as she felt Alex move; she decided to get up and headed to the kitchen to make breakfast.

* * *

The brunette woke up a couple hours later, still enjoying the warmth and comfort of the bed; the thick duvet covered her body and that pillow, oh, that pillow. It was probably made of feathers and the softest thing she ever recalled touching and that smell… It smelled like a mixture of vanilla and a hint of orange, giving the feeling everything was perfectly clean, like new; it smelled exactly like Piper… who happened to be nowhere in sight.

Alex stretched her whole body and a couple bones crackled but it still felt amazing; she could stay in that bed for days, but it wasn't right. It wasn't her bed or even her room.

Placing her feet on the cold floor she started walking towards the kitchen only to be met with an amazing smell and a certain blonde trying to wash the dishes using her hands.

"Sponges aren't that expensive, you know?"

Piper jumped at the sound and couldn't hold back a smile as she turned around to a barely awake roommate with messy hair scratching her eyes "Sleep well?"

"Oh my god. Your bed is divine" she laid her hands on the counter and smiled back "How did I end up there, anyway?"

Of course she didn't remember.

"My cat's an asshole and you were sleeping on a couch that's 2 sizes too small for your height, so I saved your spine. You owe me one" the blonde winked teasingly

They both smiled and Piper grabbed a tray with steaming hot Italian bread on it, placing it in front of the brunette "I made bread"

"You MADE bread? Who makes bread?" she chuckled

"I thought you were listening when I told you what I'm going to school for"

"You said you were going to culinary school, not… bakery school"

"Yeah, because baking is definitely not a form of cooking... Come on, try it and please give me your honest opinion"

"I feel so spoiled." - It definitely looked and smelled amazing. – "I'll try to sell my soul on your beloved Craigslist to pay for your cooking and for letting me sleep on your bed. I fucking love your bed"

The blonde blushed and looked away so Alex wouldn't notice "Your height wasn't compatible with the couch size… I need your back to be in shape so you can keep your job and give me money" Piper smirked, a bit embarrassed at the reminder they slept on the same bed, hoping to make sense as she tried to say something clever, failing horribly. "You're not bad at rescuing someone from an injury, either, so consider this my way of thanking you"

"Thanking me, huh?" Alex stepped far too close to the blonde and ripped a piece of bread with her bare hands, taking a bite of the delicious food Piper had just baked "Are you thanking me or is this your way of apologizing for being an asshole?" she said between bites, her mouth still full.

"I am NOT an asshole"

The brunette looked at her roommate and gave her a small smile and took another bite of the bread "Are you going to tell me what's bothering you or should I keep guessing? Because I really have no idea why you're mad at me"

"Are you…" she shyly hesitated, trying to change the subject "Are you busy today?"

"Well, I have to buy a bed" Alex said with a smirk "And I have to write some stuff for work but I can do that at any time of the day, really... did you have anything in mind?"

"Oh, ok, no, no I didn't"

"Can you answer my question now?"

Piper shrugged as she looked at the floor, her hands inside her pockets, trying to act casual "Nothing, it's… not your fault"

Alex finished eating and stepped closer, kissing her cheek "If it isn't my fault, then don't make me pay for someone else's mistake" and headed towards her bathroom, turning the water on so she could take a shower.

* * *

"What's under there?" Piper kneeled down, trying to look under the couch where Olivia had been meowing at for about 5 minutes now, when she reached her hand and felt something. She quickly pulled her hand out, afraid of what she'd just touched, when she heard Alex chuckle

"It's just a toy, she always gets it stuck under the couch"

"She doesn't have toys"

"Um, yeah, she does"

Piper returned her hand under the couch and pulled out a grey rubber mouse "Where did this come from?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?" a serious expression appeared on the brunette's face "This weird and shady guy in his forties came by this week and left it for her. He also said he missed you and he's coming to pick you up for dinner tonight, so you should probably start getting dressed. Also said something about shrimp?" Alex shrugged and looked at Piper, a weird expression on the girl's face as she made sense of what she'd just heard, and then it clicked:

"THE TINDER GUY? HOLY SHIT HOW DOES HE KNOW MY ADRESS, SHIT SHIT SHIT" the blonde ran to the front door to make sure it was locked and proceeded to do the same with the windows. Crazy Tinder Guy was stalking her! What if the toy mouse was poisoned?! He'd probably been hiding behind trees and following her! "I have to call the cops, shit, I have a stalker-"

Alex started laughing like a maniac, interrupting the rambling, and Piper quickly realized Alex was messing with her, causing her face to turn red in embarrassment.

"He didn't really show up, did he?" Piper said, failing to hide the small smile breaking through as she tried to calm her nerves and realized she was overreacting

Alex tried to regain herself and stop laughing, when she was finally able to speak "No, he didn't, I bought the toy"

"NOT COOL, Al! Not cool at all! You scared the shit out of me" she allowed a grin to take over her face, her dimples now visible.

* * *

As the week progressed, their relationship was finally returning to what it was back when they first met, except for the touching. There was little to no touching from Piper, but not because she didn't want to touch Alex – she wanted to kiss her again, more than everything.

When she arrived home that Friday night, she instantly smelled smoke coming from Alex's room. She opened the door without bothering to knock, fearing she'd find her having sex with someone, but only found Alex sitting by the window, her head propped out as she tried to minimize the cigarette smell and held a bottle of beer in her other hand.

"I told you not to smoke"

The brunette quickly threw her still lit cigarette out the window "I know, I'm sorry, I just… I got this phone call and I guess this was the closest thing to a chemical substance I could get"

"Can I have one?"

Alex frowned but smiled "Rough day?"

"Rough month"

"I know the feeling" Alex grabbed the package and took a cigarette out, handing it to Piper "Do you even know how to smoke?"

"A few times in college" she shrugged "and some blunts at parties"

Alex lifted an eyebrow at the confession; Piper didn't seem like she'd ever dare touch any kind of drug except for alcohol, and handed her the lighter. The blonde took a drag and immediately started coughing, causing Alex to laugh her inexperience but still find it adorable.

"You ok?"

"Yes" another cough "Just not used to nicotine"

Alex just nodded and looked out the window into the surprisingly quiet street

"Do you want to tell me about the phone call?"

_So now she wants to make small talk. Talk about bipolar_

"Just work" the brunette offered her roommate her bottle of beer, still half full "I watched this terrible, terrible play and my boss insists that I have to write an amazing review about it which is impossible considering what I saw"

Piper took a sip and nodded as they both fell back into silence for a few minutes, both of them wanting to talk but not feeling obligated; the silence was somehow enjoyable and comfortable. After they were finished smoking(Alex had lit up another one while Piper was halfway into hers), Piper walked to the kitchen and grabbed two bottles of beer, handing her roommate the other one. That scenario repeated itself as they spoke about some stupid encounters and how Piper's partner in baking class is so stupid, he frustrates her; it doesn't help that he asks her out every single day, only to be turned down. Her speech is exaggerated but Alex still pays full attention, and they both take turns to grab more drinks.

* * *

After about 6 bottles each and now sitting on the floor with her legs crossed, Piper was already pretty tipsy, feeling the effects of the alcohol as her inhibition seemed to float away, she finally gathered enough courage to break the silence and blurt out: "Why didn't you kiss me back?"

"Huh?"

She hesitates but still speaks "The day I kissed you" the blonde placed her now empty glass on the floor "You told me I was good enough for you but you didn't kiss me back. Were you just trying to cheer me up?"

"Pipes… It's not like that"

"Answer my question, Alex"

The brunette sighs; this conversation is exactly why she didn't take things further with her roommate. "Because I think you are an amazing person" she lights up another cigarette "And I would hate to break your heart"

"Well look who's humble"

Alex shook her head "I've never been in a relationship, Piper. I told you I'm not good at commitment"

"Seriously? What is so wrong about commitment? And what makes you think I want to have a romantic relationship with you?"

"So you don't?"

"What?" Piper definitely wasn't expecting this and it was visible on her face

"You don't want to be in a relationship with me?"

"Of course I- no! No, I don't. I don't even know if you're a good ki-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as Alex smashed the lit cigarette on the toilet seat ashtray and pulled Piper closer by her waist, locking their lips together into a desperate kiss.

Alex tasted of beer and cigarettes, but it felt like the most delicious combination in the world to the blonde, who intertwined her fingers on the dark hair, pulling her closer in a quick motion, making the girl lose her balance and almost fall down, causing both of them to break the kiss and laugh.

"You were saying…?" Alex had that freaking smirk plastered on her face

"Shut up" Piper smiled and climbed on top of her roommate, her legs around the brunette's waist, bending down to kiss her again.

* * *

**So these idiots FINALLY kissed properly, huh? I have two versions in mind for next chapter, one is a fluffy and sappy one and the other will include a bit of drama and more character development, so it's up to you to decide which one you want. Please review telling me which version you'd like to read next. **


	10. Chapter 10

**So many amazing reviews! I wasn't going to post this chapter this week, but your reviews made me hurry up and put something new out. **

**I decided to make it fluffy, and I think I might have overdone it haha so I apologize if you find it too sappy.**

* * *

Alex bit the blonde's bottom lip, returning tongue to meet the other girl and grabbed Piper's thigh just under her butt, pulling her closer and then lifted her hands inside her shirt, running them along the blonde's back. She lifted one of her hands and opened the clasp of Piper's bra, only to feel her pulling away from her lap

"I can't"

"What? Why?"

Piper tried to close her bra but failed. She got up on her feet and ran her fingers through her hair as she sighed

"Piper, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong?"

"I can't, I'm sorry, I can't just fuck you"

"Why not?" Alex got up and reached for the blonde's hand

"Because I fucking like you, Alex! I like you so much that I don't want to be just another girl!"

"You're NOT just another girl and you know that"

"Oh yeah? How many girls have you slept with?"

"What? Why does it matter?"

"Answer my question"

Alex hesitated "I don't know"

"Exactly"

"But can we have a quickie?" she said with a jokingly smile; Piper glared at her "What? If I show you what I can do, you'll give up on this 'no sex policy' nonsense"

"I'm going to pretend you never said that" her face still serious, but a small smile was starting to show "Here's the deal: we go on five dates. If it doesn't work out, we'll hold no grudges and continue as friends."

"I can do that"

"However" she took a deep breath "we're only going to have sex when you decide what you truly feel about me"

Alex lifted an eyebrow as if saying 'are you kidding me?!'

"And no, saying that you feel 'horny' doesn't count" she slapped the laughing brunette's shoulder "You have to figure out exactly what you feel about me, whether it's good or bad; you have to be honest with me"

"Ok" what was there to lose, anyway? It was an opportunity for Alex to figure out exactly what she felt towards Piper and things wouldn't be THAT awkward if there wasn't an arrangement.

"Ok?" the blonde didn't think it would be this easy, so she couldn't hide the confusion on her face

"Can I still kiss you though?"

"Maybe, just maybe, I'll give you a goodnight kiss after a date"

"Ok but tonight doesn't count" she moved closer to Piper, holding her by the hips "So I demand we can still fool around tonight"

"Fool around'? What are you, 15?"

"Says the person that acts like they've never had sex" Alex moved the blonde hair behind Piper's ears and kissed her neck "Wait, you're not a virgin, are you?"

"Fuck you" Piper grabbed Alex's face and ran her tongue on her bottom lip

"I really wish you would" she smiled and proceeded to slip her tongue inside Piper's mouth, who didn't object and immediately kissed her back.

The kiss is full of desire and after a few minutes of complete torture by not being able to take it any further, they break apart and smile while looking into each other's eyes.

"Good luck keeping it in your pants for 5 dates" Piper smiled, pecked Alex's lips and headed towards her bathroom to take a shower; she hoped the brunette wouldn't notice she was regretting not letting things go any further; she has always wanted Alex, but now, after those passionate kisses, she wanted all of her, no exceptions.

"Can't wait" Alex sighed as she lit another cigarette and looked out her window, lost in her thoughts.

* * *

The idea of going on not one, but five, FIVE actual dates was haunting Alex. The maximum amount of dates she'd been with another person was no more than 2; sure, she has a couple fuck buddies, but those didn't qualify as dates, in fact, she has never even been on a proper date with any of her booty calls – they were nothing more than just sex. Sometimes she'd just call and meet up, sometimes she'd schedule when they'd meet up, but nothing more than going to each other's apartments or workplace(hey, she enjoyed the thrill of fucking on a public place).

Yet somehow she couldn't wait to go to a restaurant or maybe to the movies with her roommate. Jesus, restaurants or movies? Even she couldn't accept that Alex Vause was THAT unoriginal. Suddenly, an idea finally popped into her head; she opened her laptop, did a few searches and found exactly what she wanted.

* * *

Walking to Piper's room, the door was open and she almost knocked before peeking inside and noticing the girl was already asleep. Alex hesitated but gave in and walked inside to close the blinds, when a voice interrupted her "I'm awake"

"Sorry, I didn't want to wake you"

The blonde scratched her eyes and opened them as she yawned "What are you doing?"

"I came to talk to you but you were asleep so I thought I'd close the blinds so you won't wake up when the sun rises"

"Oh, aren't you a charmer?!" she smirked "Still not getting into my pants tonight, Al"

The brunette chuckled "Lunch. Tomorrow. 2pm. Midtown West, you can't be late because I made reservations, and I mean it. Don't. Be. Late" she emphasized every syllable of the last phrase

Piper nodded "Are you asking me on a date? Someone's in a rush"

"I'll text you the address"

Piper nodded again, her eyelids dropping; she patted the bed beside her "Sleep here"

"I'd love to, but I have somewhere I need to go"

Piper's eyes fluttered back open, her temper rising "Are you seriously going to meet someone right now?"

Alex chuckled "Are you jealous?" the blonde grabbed a pillow and threw it at the brunette "No, I'm not going to fuck someone right now although I'd love to be between your legs" hearing those words made Piper blush "I have to do some work that someone made me postpone when she tried to jump by bones"; Alex smirked, throwing the pillow back on the bed and leaving the room.

* * *

Alex probably spent the whole night typing away as she was still asleep on the new mattress in her room. Yes, mattress on the floor, because she still hadn't bought a support for it, insisting she wanted to buy a bedframe that she really liked, not one of those generic looking ones, but still hadn't found what she wanted in the thrift stores she'd visited.

Piper left for class after packing enough make up in her necessaire to reapply it before their date, butterflies dancing in her stomach.

* * *

"You're late" Alex said as Piper approached her, a bit out of breath, but still stunning. Her make-up was fresh and she looked absolutely gorgeous in tight black jeans, high top brown boots and a cream colored knitted sweater with a rather big brown purse hanging on her shoulder – she probably had her knifes and other school supplies inside. Her hair was tied in a pompadour and a few loose strands fell on the sides of her face.

"I'm so sorry, Al, did we miss the reservation?" she kissed the brunette's cheek that placed her hand on the small of her back and led her inside the restaurant

"I knew you'd be late so I told you it was earlier than it actually was" she smirked "We're just in time, come on"

Neither one of them had been to the restaurant before, but Piper had no idea what was behind the door: it wasn't your usual 'sit-and-order' place; instead, it was pretty much the contrary.

"What is this place?"

"Pretty much a DIY experience. We're gonna make our own lunch"

"We're going to cook?!"

"Um, kind of. We're making sushi"

It definitely wasn't your usual first date place of choice, but it was better than any of Piper's expectations. It was just a basic class where you'd eat what you made, and Alex started to doubt it was a good choice, seeing as Piper had cooking classes every day and she could find it tiring and boring, but the smile on the blonde's face and the glistening in her eyes spoke without words and Alex loosened up a bit.

They'd laugh every time they failed at rolling maki's or when Alex emphasized how gross it was to touch raw tuna, making Piper grab a small piece and shove it in her mouth, earning them a glare from the chef teaching the class, but they were too oblivious and caught up in each other that they didn't even notice. The whole class was filled with smiles and touching; Piper would position herself behind Alex and hold her hands as she tried to help the taller girl cut her fish precisely or help her roll her terribly sloppy and loose maki's; the sexual tension increasing with every breath she took on the nape of Alex's neck or every time she held her hand.

They ate together while talking and laughing and Alex bet her that her rolls were better (even though they were the exact same as Piper's), feeding her a few pieces to try to prove her point.

"Did you enjoy it?"

"Are you kidding me? I loved it!" the blonde kissed her cheek on the corner of her mouth but Alex pulled her close and kissed her, waiting for Piper to object('maybe, just maybe I will kiss you goodnight'), but she didn't; instead, she kissed back, not caring about their P.D.A. Nothing mattered right now, except for Alex and how thoughtful she was to pick such a perfect place for their first date.

When their lips finally parted, Piper pulled back as she laughed "You're so screwed! You're never going to be able to top this date. Should've saved it for the last one"

"Oh no, kid. Next date's on you"

* * *

**This story probably won't be much longer, maybe 3 more chapters, I think. I think ending this one will allow me to get back to my other story...**

**Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**I apologize for the lack of updates and I want to tell everyone this story is not going to be abandoned, so don't worry about it. Not much happens in this chapter, but they are still key points to what's going to happen later on.**

* * *

"That seems like a super fun date!" Lea said while stirring something in the mixer as she stood beside Piper during one of their classes.

"It was amazing!" Piper grabbed a spoon and tasted the mixture, adding another pinch of salt to it and motioning for her lab partner to start the mixer back on "I have no idea how I'm going to top that, she said I'm responsible for the next date"

"You're so screwed!" the red head giggled

"I know, right?" Piper smiled and started chopping some onions "Are you still going out with Nicky? You two left the bar together that night, didn't you?"

"Yeah, we did" she blushed. Lea was a few years younger than Piper, but they still managed to become good friends since being paired together for class. "But nah, I mean, she's more like the 'one night stand' type"

Piper nodded, something bothering her. She knew Alex was the same way – yes, she'd agreed to try something different with the blonde, but she still had her doubts that Alex cared as much for her as she did. Her friend, however, didn't seem to notice the mental turbulence going inside Piper's head and spoke again "Do you think Nicky and Alex ever… you know"

The taller girl shrugged, annoyance filling her brain. She'd never thought of the possibility, but it was clear that the thought of her roommate and her best friend had, at some point, slept together, and that image would haunt her head for days. She didn't realize, but it was obvious that she was quite jealous.

She decided to put that thought in the back of her mind and not to worry about it so much. This was not the time to jump into conclusions, so Piper did what she's always been taught to do: pretended nothing was bothering her and avoiding any kind of confrontation.

* * *

"ALEEEEX" the blonde walked inside the living room and took her iPad from the brunette's hands "We're NOT ordering food! Pizza is the stupidest thing to make!"

"We are NOT cooking" she reached her hand to get the gadget back, while still sitting on the couch, but wasn't successful at all "Piper, I'm serious" she stood up from her seat and grabbed the blonde's arm, regaining possession of the iPad and sliding the screen to unlock it, typing the password Piper had told her a couple days prior "Just sit down and relax for once"

Piper pouted and sighed, sitting down on the turquoise sofa "Fine. Did you pick a movie yet?"

"Yes" the brunette smirked and pointed the remote in her hand at the tv "The Haunting, also known as the best movie ever"

"That movie is from the last century!"

Alex shrugged, sure it was an old movie but it was still a classic. Piper sighed, knowing she would never convince her roommate to choose another movie and reached for her phone, dialing the number of the pizza place that the older girl has Googled "Pick a flavor"

"Mushrooms" the taller girl sat beside the blonde and adjusted the volume on the television, anxiously waiting for the movie to start, resembling a 5 year old on Christmas morning. Piper had started paying more attention to the girl's behavior, and she noticed how excited Alex would get whenever she had the chance to share her knowledge on things she truly cared about. Her eyes would glister every time she discussed her favorite movies, books and basically anything that truly fascinated her – and to the blonde, that simple glow showed how genuine Alex's real passions were and how happy she felt to be able to talk about such things with the blonde, mostly because the shorter girl looked at her like every word that came out of the brunette's mouth to be completely endearing.

It was rare to hear the usually calm and quiet brunette engage in such long conversations, her hand movements, the way her lips curved into smiles and her cheeks would rise every time, making her eyes barely visible under the black framed glasses.

Piper only came out of her "Alex induced gaze" when the girl took the phone from her hands and answered the already impatient pizza attendant, who had already shouted "Hello?" and a few obscenities a few times while blue eyes kept their focus on Alex's face and no words came out of her mouth to actually place their order.

Alex ordered and placed the cellphone on the newly purchased coffee table, lifting her body off the couch just enough to place one of her long legs on the surface and sit on top of it, adjusting herself.

Piper didn't question her phone not being returned – both girls would be busy at least for a couple hours and she intended for the time to be exclusively theirs, with no texts or calls to interrupt. Well, the only allowed interruption would be from the pizza delivery guy.

It wasn't a proper date: the blonde had yet to come up with an idea to top their first date, since it was now her designed responsibility. The sushi restaurant had been very thoughtful and there was no way Piper would ever be able to come up with something as good as that, even if she hadn't given up on finding something that would blow Alex's mind. She wanted that date and, even more, for the remaining 4 dates to end soon, so they would finally come to terms on where they stood. Sure, they had given each other quick pecks as greetings, instead of just a hug or a quick 'hi', and Alex would always try to turn said pecks into proper kisses, but as much as Piper really wanted to kiss her back, she also wanted to wait – if there was one thing she didn't want, that was to be just a one night stand. Sure, she's had her fair share, but not with her roommate. No, not her, because Piper had never, ever felt the same way she did for that girl she barely knew.

* * *

The movie almost made Piper pee her pants. Sure, she liked horror movies, but only the ones you could tell were fake and staged. The one Alex had chosen was too real and too scary for her taste, causing her to gasp and close her eyes during various parts, causing Alex to side eye her and smile to herself, until she eventually paused the movie and turned to the slightly shivering blonde "Do you want to stop?"

"Nooo, no, it's ok, I'm just cold, and that's why I'm snuggling the blanket…" she said, fiddling with a loose thread on her blanket.

Alex smirked and lifted an eyebrow "I can think of other ways to get you hot and actually sweaty"

Piper glared at her while a smile appeared on the sides of her lips "Very funny" she leaned down and grabbed another piece of pizza from the tiny table in front of them "If you're so eager to take me to bed then you should take me on at least four more dates"

The brunette watched her in amusement. Yes, of course she wanted to have those 4 dates already and jump into bed with Piper, but she still hadn't figured out (or at least admitted to herself) what her true feelings for her roommate were, and she wasn't quite ready to face them. Besides, and this was actually the winning point, it had already been stablished that the next date would be on Piper; Alex would never abandon her pride and do something different than she had previously decided: "Nice try. Next date is still on you. But don't worry, I won't get my hopes up, I know any ideas you could possibly come up with for a date would never be as good as mine" she winked

Was Alex seriously challenging Piper? The blonde's brain was in flames, desperately running through her whole knowledge of films and stories she had read or heard of, hoping to remember a date that would be good enough to take the taller girl on, just like she had done the previous night and the one before that, but still, nothing came to mind and they fell into silence as Piper's mind remained far away and her hands automatically guided the pizza to her mouth.

The taller girl moved closer to the blonde and put her arm around hers. The shorter girl didn't come out of her daze but still nodded, making Alex understand the message and press 'play'. Each day that passed made it easier for them to understand each other, even in complete silence. Be it while one of them knows exactly when to grab the iPad from the other one's hands and dial whatever number is on the screen, or how Piper has completely nailed the art of brewing fresh coffee whenever Alex needs a caffeine kick, or the way the blonde will call out from the bathroom and the brunette knows it's because she needs a towel, or even when one of them has a bad day and the other one is instantly able to read their facial expression, be it to leave them alone or bring home a bottle of wine or beer; As each day passed, they became more and more in synch.

* * *

**I've struggled to write Piper's date but no idea seems good enough for her first choice for a date(I've postponed the content I already had so they can happen later on in the story), so if you have an idea, PLEASE share!**

**And don't worry, the next chapters are finally going to include some bed action.**

**So, since you guys asked, I've decided to make this story longer. Thing is, I now have to re-write everything I had already written down, which includes their following dates. The good news is, I've got a bit of content ready, so I should be able to put a new chapter up soon.**

_**This is me begging: PLEASE review. I think every story comes to a standstill at some point, and this is mine. Every time my phone beeps and it's an email with a review, I feel terribly guilty for not updating and start brainstorming new ideas… so yeah, consider reviewing your way of smacking me in the head and forcing me to write. :P**_


	12. Chapter 12

**AMAZING suggestions and reviews. You guys make my day. Some of you make me smile even wider when I get the email notification with your usernames on it; you all have no idea how happy this makes me.**

**As for the people that ask about my other story, I swear it will be updated... eventually. Sorry!**

**I want to dedicate this chapter to two people that played a crucial part on this chapter, bluepaintbox and PiedPepper. You two are the best.**

**Please don't kill me for this!**

* * *

Alex knocked on Piper's bedroom door, despite it being half open, seeing as neither one of them usually closed theirs, and walked inside.

"Hey Pipes, do you think I can borrow that black suitcase you have? The smaller one"

Piper lifted an eyebrow "Sure… What do you need it for?"

Alex had an honest smile on her face and her tone showed excitement "I'm going to LA!"

A confused look appeared on the shorter girl's face, along with a hint of something Alex couldn't figure out what it was "Why? When? Is Nicky going with you?"

The brunette smiled "It's for work! All expenses paid! I am going on a proper trip and it's all paid for!"

Alex hadn't travelled much, not to mention across the country. Sure, she had a way of hiding her emotions, a near perfect poker face, but she didn't even try to hide the growing smile on her lips. Maybe she was comfortable letting the blonde know how important this was to her, maybe she didn't care as much and let her guard down for a second. She couldn't explain it herself, but she wanted Piper to be happy for her, so much that she didn't notice the blonde was slightly hurt.

"When do you leave? How long are you going to be gone for?"

"Tomorrow! Can you believe it? I'll be there for a week! One whole week with room service and sun! I can't believe I'll feel the sun on my skin in November!"

Piper swallowed the lump in her throat and looked into her roommate's eyes, trying to fake a smile "That's good, Al"

The brunette furrowed her eyebrows and sat on the edge of the bed "You're not happy for me?"

"I am, I just…" she looked down shyly

Alex scooted closer to her and rested her hand on the blonde's thigh "Keep talking"

"So no more dates?"

Alex chuckled "You're the one that hasn't asked me out on one"

"I can't think of anything that will be just as good as yours, you were right…" she looked at the brunette's face for a quick second before looking at the hand that was resting on her thigh "I'm trying, I really am, Al, I just don't want to fail"

She squeezed Piper's thigh and lifted her chin with her other hand "Stop trying to get my approval and just take me somewhere already"

A smile appeared on both of their faces and they stared at each other for a while, before Piper rested her hand on top of Alex's and broke the silence "What time does your flight leave tomorrow?"

"Around 9 pm from JFK" the brunette moved her free hand to tuck some blonde hair behind the girl's ear

"Shit, I have a test I really can't miss tomorrow, shit, shit"

Alex smiled as she thought about how Piper is such a clean cut girl, yet she has such a dirty mouth. That's the thing that intrigued her: the moment you saw the blonde, you would assume everything about her was predictable, but she always had a way of proving you wrong.

"Do you think you can pick me up after school at like… around 3? Or maybe we could have lunch together?"

"Are you inviting me on a date?"

The blonde bit her lip trying to suppress a smile and play it cool, a small part of her thinking the girl would deny her invitation; "Is that a yes?"

Alex squeezed her thigh and smiled, not saying a word, but of course it was a 'yes'.

* * *

Sure enough, the brunette was standing by the culinary school at 3pm sharp. Piper finally came out of the building and smiled before kissing the taller girl's cheek, which placed a hand on the blonde's lower back "So where are you taking me?"

"You'll see!"

Seeing as they didn't have much time before Alex had to go to the airport and Piper was pretty sure the place they were heading to could keep the girl busy for many hours, she decided to catch a cab. The Upper West Side wasn't far away from the Culinary School in Manhattan and it only took them about 12 minutes to arrive at a very tiny store with piles of books in front of it and a dark green awning that had the words "Westsider Rare and Used Books" written in gold lettering, followed by a phone number.

Alex's eyes quickly lit up when she took sight of the store – it was small, dusty, cramped, and claustrophobic even, and she absolutely loved everything she could place her eyes on. The whole place was covered in books, from the floor to the ceiling and the stairs also had books sitting on each and every step, in what was probably the owners attempt to fit even more books in the cramped store. The smile that adorned Alex's face became even wider when she looked at the blonde that had yet to look around and change her gaze from the taller girl's face. "This place is insane! How did you find it?"

"I came here earlier this week to buy a cookbook that I couldn't find on Amazon… And as soon as I arrived, I couldn't shake off the feeling that you would fall in love with it" she motioned for the brunette to walk further inside, walking beside her

"So you couldn't stop thinking of me, huh?" her signature smirk invaded her face, making Piper blush a little because, well, it was true.

Piper ignored the remark, not wanting to deny it but not brave enough to admit it "So last night I figured you could use a few books for your trip. What are you waiting for? Go explore!"

* * *

About an hour later and with 3 books already in her hands, Alex carefully walked up the tiny stairs, trying not to step on one of the many books and ran into Piper, who stood in a corner sticking her hand up trying to reach a book that was on a higher shelf. The second floor was slightly less crowded than the first one, but just as magnificent. The taller girl easily reached up and grabbed the book the blonde wanted, but instead of passing it to her, she decided to take a look at it.

"Emily Bronte, huh?"

Piper nodded at the mention of the author

"This is a very confusing book, but really good nonetheless"

"Is there anything you haven't read yet?"

"Maybe you have some hidden tattoo with a pretty little font that I've never seen, but I'm more than willing to do a full body search to find it"

Piper laughed "I don't"

"I'd like to confirm that with my own eyes" Alex moved closer and placed her free hand on the blonde's hip

"I'm sure you would" she wrapped her arms around the brunette "What about you? Any secret tattoos?"

"Why don't you look and find out for yourself?"

Piper didn't have a chance to reply as Alex bought their lips together and squeezed the girl's hip, making her tighten the grip around Alex, kissing her back.

The kiss intensified and soon their tongues joined. Alex slowly pushed Piper against the cramped bookshelf and sneaked her hands inside her shirt, running her fingertips along the girl's stomach, giving her the goose bumps. Alex soon noticed this was a weak spot for the blonde and increased the speed of her ministrations, her other hand now running along Piper's back, her fingernails lightly scratching the skin.

Piper moved her hands to Alex's neck and pulled her closer as her bottom lip was sucked by the brunette while she placed one of her thighs between the blonde's legs. Piper let out a moan that was suppressed by red lips and adjusted her body, spreading her legs a bit wider to grant Alex more access.

The taller girl moved her hand from Piper's stomach to her breast and started kneading it on top of the girl's bra, making both of their libidos increase and causing Piper to grind against Alex's thigh, desperately wanting more friction between her legs. The heat radiating from their make out session was increasing and Alex moved her hand to massage Piper's breast from under the bra's fabric, causing the girl to moan at the bare skin touch.

Alex's mind was so lost in Piper she didn't even notice the vibrations coming from the phone in her pocket, causing Piper to unconsciously grind harder on Alex's thigh, until it finally clicked and she broke their kiss, taking the device out of her pocket and staring at the screen

"Shit, we have to go"

The blonde groaned in frustration "Seriously?"

"I'm sorry Pipes, I can't miss that flight. I have to pick up my luggage at home… Are you taking me to the airport?"

Piper smiled and nodded, trying to fix her shirt and ignore the moisture between her legs when Alex grabbed her hand and they headed downstairs to pay for the books they had chosen(Piper insisted on paying until the brunette finally gave in) and then made their way home, before facing the terrible traffic to the airport.

* * *

Time was flying by and neither one of the women wanted to go their separate ways. Alex was better than Piper at hiding her emotions, but still wished the younger girl could tag along; it would be thrilling to spend a week in a great hotel where they could finally finish what they had already started twice now.

They stood near the Departure sign, one of Alex's arms wrapped around Piper's shoulder. The blonde lifted her hand to touch Alex's and intertwined their fingers as the brunette occasionally whispered something that would cause the shorter girl to giggle, extremely turned on by the raspy voice near her ear but also because she felt completely at ease with the girl that finally seemed to be opening up and getting comfortable with the idea of acting like a silly couple, instead of a one night stand…

Speaking of 'one night stands', Alex was so focused on Piper, who had let go of her hand and was fidgeting in her pockets to grab money and buy them something to drink that she didn't notice someone approaching them;

The Psycho fuck buddy took angry and heavy steps towards Alex, upset that she hadn't been answering her booty calls or texts, but looking at the brunette in a black leather jacket has always turned her on, so she doesn't hold back and grabs Alex's face, pulling her into a kiss and proceeded to exclaim "Out of all the places I could run into you, I didn't think this was a valid option!"

Piper stared at the scene unfolding in front of her wide eyed, her anger building up that Alex stood still and didn't push the girl away. It was obvious this was one of Alex's fuck buddies, and the blonde couldn't help but want to punch the girl's face.

"Piper, this is not what it looks like" Alex released herself from the woman's grip and turned to the blonde, reaching for her arm as she tried to make sense and explain to her what was going on and turned her face to the intruder "What the fuck, Sam!"

"Ohh come on hun, she is cute." Sam looked at Piper up and down, clearly judging the girl's looks "Is she the one that's gonna join us for that threesome you owe me?"

Piper's mouth went agape and she was ready to turn her back on both women, terribly upset at this Sam girl's audacity, all she wanted to do was get away from that situation and leave the airport before Alex could realize how insulted and hurt she felt, but they were interrupted by the sound of speakers:

"ATTENTION ALL PASSENGERS FOR AMERICAN AIRLINES FLIGHT 789D TO LOS ANGELES, NOW BOARDING AT GATE 5"

Alex looked at her watch and realized she was already late to board her plane. Her eyes darted from Piper to Sam, not knowing who she should speak to first. She knew she was in trouble with Piper and that was the last thing she wanted, especially before leaving for a week, but at the same time she wanted to get rid of her former fuck buddy so she wouldn't listen to her conversation with the blonde.

Looking back at Piper, Alex made her decision and grabbed the shorter girl's hands and dragged her away from the intruder, completely ignoring her presence and squeezing her roommate's hands while she heard the speakers go off again, requiring her to board. She didn't have much time left and she needed to convince Piper that she wasn't a complete asshole.

"Pipes, it's not what it seems, I swear, I haven't talked to her in a long time, I've ignored each and every one of her calls and-"

She was interrupted by the now angry blonde "Is that what you're gonna do to me when you find a new distraction?! Ignore me and act like I don't exist?!"

"What?! Are you crazy? Of course not-"

"Board your plane, Alex" she tried to release her hands but the brunette's grip was firm and she didn't let go.

"You have to believe me, I don't think you're like that!"

The blonde shook her head from side to side in disbelief at whatever was happening at that moment. Just a few minutes ago she was listening to Alex's voice in her ear that spoke about places they could go when she returned and hinted how much she wished she could just take Piper right there, and now she's fighting back the tears that threaten to fill her eyes.

"LAST CALL FOR FLIGHT 789D TO LOS ANGELES, BOARDING AT GATE 5. LAST CALL"

The taller girl groaned at the urgency and took Piper's face on her hands, moving their faces closer "You have to believe me"

Piper looked down avoiding the green eyes in front of hers "Alex, just… Go board your plane, it's getting late, I'm going home"

"Piper" she looked straight into the blue eyes in front of her "The only person I'm seeing is you" she moved a few strands of blonde hair and tucked them behind the girl's ear "I'll explain everything to you when I come back, there are some things you need to know about me and this is a conversation for us to have face to face, but believe me when I say I want nothing to do with her"

Piper closed her eyes and nodded, moving away from Alex and leaving the airport without looking back at her.

* * *

**Thank you for reading and please review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Please read AN at the end!**

* * *

There has never been a time in her life when Piper didn't create absurd scenarios and conversations in her mind, and this time was no different.

Alex had been gone for two days and still hadn't gotten in touch, which was predicted since the brunette had made it very clear their conversation about the event in the airport had to be face to face. That was one of the biggest differences in their behaviors: Alex is always straight to the point, she knows exactly what she wants and she can go on for days in silence, while the blonde is making up conversations and fights in her head or lightning her phone's screen every thirty seconds, even though she knows there won't be any new notifications or missed calls from Alex.

However, Piper decided not to give in and be the first one to text or call, because she knew she actually hadn't done anything wrong.

There was nothing for Piper to do but wait for Alex to return home.

* * *

Even if the sun had come out, Alex wouldn't be able to fully enjoy the warm weather in LA, simply because her mind was often in New York; more specifically one room away from hers at home.

Staying in silence wasn't as easy as Alex made it look like. Keeping a straight face and hiding her emotions had never been a problem in the girl's life, but that didn't mean her mind didn't often wander to Piper's eyes, her lips and the way they tasted against her own mouth, or how her hands were surprisingly firm on Alex's hips; She wasn't able to fight daydreaming about their make out session at the bookstore, but most of the time, she thought about how much she fucking missed Piper and how screwed up their relationship was at this point – she understood that avoiding the calls and being an asshole to a former 'lover'(as Piper would probably describe it, even if Alex had no real feelings for her fuck buddy at all) sounded like, but she couldn't grasp the fact that she didn't feel that way about Piper, that whatever that scary feeling was, it was still composed of only good and happy intentions.

Piper was different.

She didn't know how deep her feelings were, but this was a completely new sensation; thinking about whatever that person is doing at the time, wondering if she's been eating properly or skipping school. It was a combination of little things, ordinary things, but they were always on her mind. Piper was always on her mind.

And the possibility of falling in love absolutely terrified Alex.

But everything eventually caught up to her.

It was the end of the third day of her trip and, miraculously, she had been released from her duties earlier than the past days and decided to make the most of her night(and try to think about something other than her roommate). Alex had accepted an invitation from a couple of other writers and headed to a bar with them straight after work, gulping down on beer after beer, only stopping for the eventual cigarette break she'd often take outside the establishment. She had become a chain smoker the past few days.

Martha was a popular blogger working at the same event as Alex, and the two were quick to strike a conversation and take a cigarette break together; The brunette didn't notice how her company wouldn't even smoke most of the times and she'd giggle at anything Alex said, not trying to be any subtle about her flirting.

As Martha pulled out a joint and lit it, the strong smell invaded the streets and Alex's nostrils, the brunette shifted her gaze to the blogger, who smiled trying to look seductive and stuck her arm out, offering her a hit. Alex did her best not to roll her eyes as she took the joint, placing it on her mouth and leaving some red lipstick on it, which made the blogger very turned on and Alex slightly irritated.

Even if didn't have the same effect as weed, smoking cigarettes with Piper was definitely more enjoyable.

And then it finally hit Alex: EVERYTHING was more enjoyable with Piper, and she had fallen on a trap. It was too late when she realized she did, in fact, want to be with the blonde as much as she could; she missed her voice, her silly laugh and eventual snorts when she got too carried away or how focused she looks while trying a new recipe, hoping to archive perfection, how she furrows her eyebrows while filling a bake sheet or separating egg whites.

It wasn't purely sexual.

Alex missed all of Piper.

The brunette carelessly returned the joint to its owner and turned around, completely ignoring Martha's presence, and started walking towards her hotel as she typed a simple 'Hi' and pressed 'send'.

* * *

The doorbell rang incessantly and the knocks on the door grew impatient by the minute, until Piper finally jumped out of the bathtub to answer the door, towel around her body and a very upset expression on her face.

Nicky stood behind the door and sighed in an annoyed tone "What the fuck took you so long, blondie?!"

"Nicky? What do you want? Alex is not here"

"No shit!" the short girl rolled her eyes and let herself in, carrying a rather small pine tree and setting it on top of the living room's coffee table.

Piper watched the scene unfolding in front of her in disbelief "What's that doing in my living room?!"

Nicky smirked and headed to the fridge, grabbing herself a bottle of water and plopping down on the couch

"Nicky, I'm talking to you"

She shrugged "I don't make the rules. Just making a delivery"

"Well, I don't need a tree"

"No, but Vause does" she started looking for the remote

"Wait, what? I'm pretty sure Alex is not a Christmas enthusiast"

Nicky shrugged again "Ask her when she comes back. When's that, anyway?"

"Isn't that your job as a friend to know?"

Nicky let out a laugh "I don't even know what day today is!"

Piper once again rolled her eyes and pressed the 'home' button on her phone. No new messages from Alex.

"Is that all, Nicky?"

The short girl chuckled "Trying to get rid of me already, blondie?! I was about to ask if I could have something to eat"

"Eat? Really?"

"Yeah, Vause told me you're like, Masterchef good"

"Alex doesn't even watch Masterchef!"

"Fine" she shrugged "But she did say it was orgasmic-like"

Piper's eyes widened in surprised and she blushed a little "She did?", the blonde said with a shy but hopeful tone

"Yeah, yeah" Nicky stood up and walked towards the kitchen, opening the fridge and grabbing a fruit that was inside a bowl "The fuck is this?"

"Guava"

The short girl laughed and threw the fruit to the blonde "This shit isn't ripe!"

A confused look appeared on the taller girl's face. She had an assignment to create a desert using a tropical fruit and the farmer's market vendor convinced her this would guarantee she'd get a good grade and that it was ready to be eaten, so she believed him and bought a dozen, convinced she needed enough to fix any mistakes she could make while creating something from scratch "And how would you know?!"

"Hand me a knife"

Piper did as she was told and Nicky sliced the fruit in two, showing both parts to the blonde "See, it's still green on the outside, that means it's not ripe" she put them on the counter "It has to be yellow on the outside and cunt colored on the inside"

Piper's eyes widened again. She wasn't used to that kind of language "Jesus! You couldn't just say… pink-ish?"

"And why would I ruin the fun of seeing your reaction? Besides, cunts taste better than anything anyway" she shrugged

"How do you even know when guava is ripe?"

The short girl moved her eyes from Piper and opened the fridge, finding a bottle of beer and opening it with her teeth "I just do"

The blonde rolled her eyes "Seriously, tell me"

"My fucking mother's boyfriend is Brazilian" she took a sip "They sell this shit on the streets and the sellers usually know where you can find dope, which was very necessary in order to put up with my mother, so it was a win-win kind of purchase"

Piper nodded, not wanting to push the seemingly delicate subject and Nicky headed towards the front door, saying she'd see her around and that she'd better have food next time, closing the door behind her.

* * *

The next day, Piper couldn't wait to get home from class. The new seafood chef/teacher was giving her a particularly hard time and the pressure was getting to her, so all she could think about was binge eating unhealthy snacks and drinking something to warm her up while watching anything on tv.

Plopping down on the couch, she removed her shoes using her own feet and searched for the remote when she felt something buzzing on the couch, which was fairly odd since her phone was out of battery since last night.

After the second buzz, Piper stuck her hand between the cushions and found a phone she presumed could only be Nicky's and the only thing her eyes could focus on was the name on the screen that read 'Vause', accompanied by many Facebook chat notifications. Nicky and Alex were talking to each other this exact moment!

Curiosity got the best of her and Piper tried to unlock the screen and thanked whatever higher force there was for the fact the phone didn't have a password.

_N: so u're telling me u blew martha fucking miller off! fuck is wrong with u?_

**A: You're the one that told me to give it a shot with Piper!**

_N: yea but u two arent together so y the fuck does it matter if u bang a hot chick?_

Piper's heart was racing as she waited for Alex to type an answer. After what seemed like forever, the phone buzzed and the blonde almost dropped it on the floor

**A: Piper's… different**

_N: bullshit! if u really wanted ud have texted her by now_

**A: I did but she didn't text me back.**

As she re-read the last part of their conversation, not believing her eyes the first time, Piper realized Alex had in fact texted her, but her phone was out of battery. Running to her room with Nicky's phone still in her hand, Piper plugged her own phone to the power and cursed how long it took to charge it enough so that she could turn it on.

As soon as the 'Home' screen loaded, a single notification appeared on her screen:

**From Alex:**

**I meant it when I said I was only dating you. I miss you, kid. Wish you were here.**

For the first time that week, a smile spread across the blonde's face.

* * *

**I really don't like this chapter, I feel it lacks Vauseman together, but it's been a month since the last update and if anyone's still reading this, I felt like I had to put something out.**

**Regarding the lack of updates, I can only apologize. **

**I thought about saying that 'life's getting in the way', but that would be vague, and I get so many amazing messages from people that are truly interested in this that I felt the need to explain:**

**after almost 6 years of living together, we have decided to head our separate ways and move to different states. That means I've got to make repairs to our current apartment(otherwise we cannot return it, since it's rented), organize moving trucks(really hard to do with the holidays coming up), get the cats taken to vets(not to mention of them was sick and demanded a lot of attention), find a new place, do all the legal paperwork, pack our lives separately; all of that along with preparing a two year old to be alright emotionally since he will no longer stay with me(and I stay with him 24/7, which is also a very demanding task when I'm the one that cooks, cleans etc). Besides, my emotions are a fucking wreck, which caused me to have a terrible case of writer's block.**

**Anyway, I really have a lot going on right now and even though that's none of your faults, I just haven't had the time or the motivation to sit down and write. Once again, I apologize.**

**I'm moving in the beginning of January and hope to have more frequent updates after that. Please stick around!**

**I appreciate any suggestions/ideas/feedbacks and I'm looking forward to your amazing reviews. You are all fucking awesome and helping me get through this fucked up month.**


	14. Chapter 14

**I know, I know. Took me almost another whole month to update… I can only apologize.**

* * *

The next couple of days went by with frequent texts sent by Alex, until Piper finally gave in and started replying. They kept their conversations short, but the concern Alex showed toward Piper didn't go unnoticed. She'd often check on how she was doing in school or if everything was alright with the cat, but Piper was playing hard to get. She was still upset and, even though the biggest part of her wanted to forget everything and engage in something serious with the brunette, her pride remained nearly intact.

**P- "What time does your flight arrive?"**

_A- "About 9pm UTC. How's the weather?"_

**P- "Freezing! It's 44 degrees or something like that"**

_A- "Are you sure we can't just talk at home?"_

**P- "No. Need considerable amounts of alcohol for this"**

_A- "Well I have to make a stop at home to drop my luggage. We could go to the bar together"_

**P- "Sure" **

The flight was actually on time, which was remarkable considering the time of the year and the amount of people at the airport, traveling to and from all parts of the world. It took Alex a while to get a cab(and a couple cigarettes that she knew she shouldn't be smoking) but the girl eventually managed to do it, glad to be inside a vehicle and no longer in the freezing wind outside.

* * *

Alex arrived home to a rather messy scene. It wasn't filthy, but there were coats and shoes scattered around the living room and Alex could see Piper's iPad and a couple of culinary books sitting on the kitchen counter, along with a dirty pan and some paper towels. The mess definitely bothered the brunette, but it wasn't the time to confront her roommate. Now was the time to convince the blonde that she wasn't playing her.

"Piper?"

"I'm in my bathroom"

Alex walked towards the last door in the narrow hallway and peeked inside, taking sight of the blonde applying some mascara through the mirror. "What's the mascara for? Trying to impress me?" she said with a cocky smirk, but Piper's glare showed it wasn't funny at all to her "Too soon ?"

"Yes"

Alex felt the urge to wrap her arms around Piper but actually hesitated on doing it, not knowing how the girl would react and fearing that she would make this situation even worse. This was another first for Alex; Caring about someone's reaction to the point of becoming speechless and with a weird feeling seeming to take over her body.

Piper put the mascara down and really looked at the brunette through the mirror, blue eyes fixated on green ones, until she finally turned around and looked down at the floor, walking past Alex and grabbing a huge coat from the hook near the door "Are you coming or not?"

Alex sighed and walked after Piper, fiddling with the button on the sleeve of her jacket and grabbing her winter coat that had been left on the hook before she even flew to LA, considering she'd have no use for it while in that city, and closed the door behind them.

* * *

The rainbow flags in front of the yellow sign gave it away: this was a gay bar. Not only it was a gay bar, but it was one that Alex would sometimes go to, whenever Nicky pressured her to tag along to the point of insanity when Alex would give in.

And, truth be told, Alex was dead scared at the high risk of having another unpleasant encounter with someone she had slept with.

"Really? You dragged me to fucking Ginger's?!" Alex questioned while she crossed her arms in front of her chest

"Yes" the blonde opened the door and walked inside

"Is this some sort of trap? Are you trying to make me run into someone?"

"Maybe"

They walked inside the bar and sat down on the red leather seats and Piper ordered two shots of some weird liquor that Alex had never heard of, but drank it anyway, trying her best not to let her face show how disgusting it tasted; Piper didn't hide her disapproval and scrunched her face, proceeding to order another round of another weird(and now orange colored) shots that the bartender quickly placed in front of the pair.

"Slow down, Pipes"

The blonde lifted one eyebrow and quickly raised the shot glass to her lips, drinking all of its contents, motioning for the other girl to do the same.

They stayed in silence for a good couple of minutes until Alex finally spoke up "Listen Piper, about that girl, it's-"

"Sam, Alex. Her name's Sam. Or didn't you know that? Maybe you didn't even bother to learn her name before fucking her"

Alex lifted her hand to fix her glasses, despite the fact that it wasn't necessary and sighed. "I know her name" she motioned for the bartender to bring them another round and mouthed 'keep them coming', followed by a nod from the bartender "I meant it when I said I was only dating you. I don't know how this works or how it's going to be after our fifth date but for now, I'm here, you know? I'm trying"

"You're TRYING?! What the hell is there to try, Alex?" she angrily took another shot "You either like me or you don't! There's no 'trying'! You can't force yourself into having feelings for me"

Alex sighed and fixed her glasses again "Of course I fucking like you, Piper" she looked straight into the blue eyes in front of her "I just don't want to ruin this," she gestured pointing to herself and then to the blonde "us"

"Why are you so afraid of trying? I know this has been said before but how can you be so confident in every aspect in your life except for this? It only shows you're not interested in it enough to even _try_"

"And the solution to that problem would be trying and me failing you miserably, until you decide to kick me out and I lose both a person I like and the roof currently over my head?"

Piper rolled her eyes, fully aware of the game Alex was playing. "You're so fucking selfish"

"Well, look who's talking now!" Alex drank the new and sixth or seventh shot of the night, the alcohol already working its magic "Seriously Piper, why are you acting like this? You're really fucking angry yet you won't allow me to explain the way things actually are"

"Jesus fuck" she cried out, her breathing faster as she became more nervous "What am I supposed to think, Alex?"

"You're supposed to listen!" the brunette slammed her shot glass on the counter, both from anger and in an attempt to grab the bartender's attention, gesturing for her to fill it with more alcohol "You say you want me but your actions show otherwise!"

The words hit Piper like a brick and she was speechless for a few moments, realizing she could either think of Alex as a manipulative bitch or give her the chance to prove she was the exact opposite.

The bartender placed hot pink shots in front of both girls and the brunette was quick to grab hers, but Piper put her own hand over Alex's, making her turn and their eyes to meet, looking intently at each other, until the blonde finally spoke up "Keep talking"

Alex licked her lips and fixed her glasses "We clearly started off wrong, Pipes" the words causing the younger girl to shift in her seat uncomfortably and look at the counter, avoiding the green eyes in front of her "And maybe we need to scratch things up, maybe start over or go back a few squares, but I'm honestly willing to try…"

A small smile appeared on Piper's face and she looked back at Alex "You are?"

"Yes" Alex placed her hand on the blonde's thigh and softly squeezed it "But you can't just shut me off like that, because it could happen again, especially if you keep bringing me to gay bars like this one"

The taller girl used her free hand to grab her shot glass again and drown it, dreading Piper's reaction to the confession that there are other girls like Sam out there, but the blonde simply nodded and grabbed her own glass and drank its contents, making a disgusted face at the taste

"These get progressively worse!" Piper says as she can't contain a laugh

Alex bit her lip to stop the smile forming on her lips and felt the relief wash over her body, eyes never shifting their gaze from her roommate, feeling hopeful that Piper was starting to get over the unfortunate airport encounter.

Feeling the effects of all the drinks they already had, the blonde gathered enough courage to question "So you didn't have anything more serious with Sam?"

Alex chuckled at the innocence and shyness from the blonde "No, Pipes" she scooted closer to the younger girl "Not with Sam or anyone else. I told you I don't do relationships"

The taller girl sensed the insecurity in Piper's face at her last sentence and moved her hand to her arm, squeezing it "At least not until you came along"

Piper's face broke into a smile that soon faded to give enough space for her inner voice to actually speak the words she dreaded to ask "Where did you two meet?"

"Really? Out of all the questions you could think of, that is the one you chose to ask?"

Piper shrugs "I want to know what your feelings for her were, that's all"

"Piper, it was just sex"

Piper lifted her gaze to Alex's face for a couple of seconds and looked down at the floor again, dreading the answer to her next question "…did you love her?"

"Fuck no!" Alex chuckled "You've never had a fuck buddy before"

The blonde shook her head 'no' and Alex smirked, poking her sides and teasing her "You're cute; sometimes innocent. I like that"

Piper blushed a little "I have one more question"

"Alright"

"Why is there a tree in our living room?!" she said holding back a laugh

"Let me guess, Nicky?" Both girls smiled as Piper nodded and Alex explained "My mom probably sent it to her place and she decided to 'do a good deed', as she would probably tell you. My mom insists I keep at least one Christmas tradition alive; but hey, you never told me your plans for Christmas. Are you going back home?"

Piper hesitated for a second before answering "Hm, yeah, probably. I don't know." It was an uncomfortable subject and she quickly changed the conversation "Anyway, I think you said something about missing me…"

Alex lifted her eyebrows at the obviously intoxicated and suddenly brave Piper "Yeah. I did miss you."

"You did?" the blonde asked while drunkenly leaning her body forward and almost falling off her seat, but somehow managed to hold her grip on the counter, causing both girls to laugh a little

"Yeah, kid. Question is, did _you_ miss me?"

She waved it off "I did miss your help setting up the new ceiling lamp. Well, trying to. I wasn't tall enough to do it by myself"

"That's all you missed this week?" Alex got up from her seat and took a step towards the blonde "Because I know I thought about you a lot…" she leaned extremely close to whisper in the girl's ear "Particularly on a certain day while I was in the bathtub"

Piper opened her eyes widely, the alcohol causing her to exaggerate on the facial expression , still not used to the girl's forwardness "Alex!"

"And that's exactly how I expected you to sound when screaming my name"

* * *

_**You guys are really fucking amazing. Cannot begin to tell you how much I appreciated and smiled reading your reviews/pms. I finally moved and everything's unpacked now, which means I'm less busy now and have already started on the next chapter, hoping to update it much quicker than the last couple of times.**_

_**If you have any ideas/suggestions/complaints or anything… Feel free to review and/or PM me. **_

_**Once again, thank you very much for sticking with this little story.**_


	15. Chapter 15

**Warning: this chapter is much longer than the past ones. Since I was really busy the past couple of months, the storyline was delayed and I still had to write about Christmas, so I'm speeding this up a bit.**

**This is a continuation of the last chapter; they're still at the bar.**

* * *

Alex placed her hand on Piper's hip and pulled her closer, moving her lips from the girl's ear to her neck and sucking it, hard enough that it would definitely leave a hickey, but that didn't seem to bother either of them; instead, the blonde only got more turned on at the feeling, followed by the kisses Alex was placing on her neck, until her thoughts suddenly changed to fearful ones.

The blonde placed her hands on both sides of Alex's head and pulled her face to hers.

"What if I'm horrible in bed?"

Alex chuckled "Well, are you?"

Piper blushed "No… I mean, I don't think I am horrible…"

"I guess there's only one way for us to find out"

She pulled the blonde closer and placed one hand on the side of her face and the other on her ass, squeezing it as she locked their lips together in a hungry and hurried kiss, sloppier than any of their previous make out sessions; their desire for each other extremely increased after some sort of fight and being away for each other for a week.

'Make up sex' is one of the best kinds of sex for a reason: there's a huge desire to slap that person's face for whatever they did to make each other angry, while at the same time, there's lust, there's desire; there's more passion. A mix of desperation and need to let everything out in order to return to the state where the only thing you feel for that person is love, and you need to show that, because you'd never admit it with words; it needs to be felt, squeezed, bitten, fucked. It has to happen as soon as humanly possible, challenging any measurements of time. It is more intense, and now, for the first time, it was going to be real.

Alex would never need to use every ounce of imagination to figure out what Piper looks and sounds like while cumming; the next time she happened to please herself while imagining being with the girl, she would have a vivid memory of it all.

Well, that was until Piper broke their kiss with a weird expression of her face, changing from complete fear to some sort of disgust. She was going to be sick.

Placing her hand over her mouth, she closed her eyes and swallowed hard, a very disgusted look on her face.

"Jesus, Alex!" she grabs a paper napkin from the counter and wipes her mouth "Did you lick a fucking ashtray?!"

A few seconds later, Piper's face broke into laughter, causing the brunette to laugh as well; the alcohol clearly taking the blame for their actions. Alex suddenly leaned against the counter and mumbled something to the bartender that Piper really couldn't decipher, but watched intently with a goofy smile on her face as her roommate expertly flirted with the bartender, quickly managing to score a piece of smelled like mint gum. The taller girl opened the small package and threw the content inside her mouth, chewing exaggeratedly with an open mouth.

Piper laughed at the situation and pulled Alex closer by her jacket, slipping her tongue inside the brunette's mouth and giving her a very sloppy kiss, until she pulled away and blew a bubble with the gum she had managed to steal from Alex's mouth, loudly popping it and laughing.

Alex grabbed the blonde by her waist and sucked her lip tightly, pulling their bodies as close as physically possible and placed her other hand on her ass, squeezing it as she glided her tongue across the other girl's, taking complete charge of the situation.

Piper couldn't exactly explain what was going on at that moment: the alcohol made her mind dizzy and her body felt like it was stepping on a cloud, while at the same time, she wanted nothing more than to give herself to the brunette.

Alex kept grabbing Piper's ass with one hand and moved the other to her breast, kneading it as they let out a small and satisfactory moan at the feeling; no matter who was giving and who was getting it, both girls felt just as excited and wanted the exact same thing.

Squeezing the brunette's hip and forearm, Piper threw her head back and closed her eyes. Alex moved her mouth to her neck, alternating between biting and sucking all over it, until she reached the spot just below her ear and whispered, her voice an octave lower: "Every time I see you I can't stop wondering what you taste like"; she bit on her earlobe "Are you finally going to let me find out?"

Piper mumbled something incoherent in between moans in response to Alex's words, and the older girl dragged her inside of the bathroom and inside of the stalls, their bodies colliding with the walls as they tried to move around the place while not letting go of each other, until they finally managed to close the door behind them, not bothering to lock it as Alex pinned Piper against the wall and returned to sucking and biting on her lower lip while fumbling with the buttons and zipper of the blonde's pants.

Piper grabbed Alex's hair and tugged at it while grinding her hips against the girl's thigh, until a hand pushed her back off Alex's body and against the wall, but before she could protest, the brunette slipped her hand inside Piper's pants and rubbed her pussy lips, the only thing standing between their bare skin was the girl's moist underwear, and both let a deep breath out as Alex rubbed her fingers on it, before pulling it up and causing the fabric to rub hard against her clit, making Piper moan loudly as her desire increased, her hips grinding against Alex's hand and an out of this world desire to be fucked taking over her body. It was like there was nothing or no one anywhere near them – all they could see in the small fractions of time when they actually managed to open their eyes was the other person's face and nothing else.

"Holy fuck, Alex" the blonde spoke between ragged breaths in hopes Alex would be able to read her mind, to make her see that she needed more than this, she wanted to feel the girl inside of her "stop… fucking... teasing!"

"Goddamn it, Alex" an unknown voice exclaimed from behind the stall's wall "Just fuck her already, I need to fucking pee!"

Piper's eyes widened but the brunette didn't seem to hear the stranger shouting things at them as she increased her ministrations on top of the girl's underwear, spreading her pussy lips apart with her middle finger. Piper moaned at the sensation but grabbed the brunette's hand, locking their eyes together as their minds finally seemed to return to their bodies as they suddenly looked down at hip level and realized what their current situation was. Seeing Alex's hand inside Piper's pants only made both girls more excited and Alex quickly pulled the blonde's panties to the side, running the tip of her finger on the newly exposed skin, causing the girl to moan at the sensation.

Suddenly, the door they had forgotten to lock was harshly pulled open, hitting the brunette's back hard. She groaned at the pain but moved her body in front of Piper's, trying to cover her up so the newly gathered crowd that was forming wouldn't get a glimpse of her body and then looked at the intruder

"Not the place for this, girls" the bar's security staff member tried to open the door wider "Zip up blondie's pants and take this somewhere else"

Piper's face became red and she hid her face on the crook of the brunette's neck, wishing she could disappear in a black hole.

"Let's go home" the taller girl whispered in her ear while she removed her hand from Piper's jeans and buttoned it, pulling the zipper up and grabbing the blonde's hand, dragging her out of the stall and ignoring the wolf whistles from the other women inside the cramped bathroom as they walked out of the bar.

.

They were quick to catch a cab and Piper basically threw herself inside, quickly telling the driver their address, still ashamed at what had just happened. Her roommate sat down beside her, and Piper noticed a smirk on Alex's face. "That was _NOT_ funny, Alex"

"It kind of was" she squeezed the blonde's waist while smiling at the pout on the girl's lips and tried to pull her onto her lap but the blonde fought to stay in her seat. "Pipes, come on, just forget it. Come here and kiss me"

* * *

Piper opened her eyes and felt what seemed to be the worst hangover in her entire life so far. Groaning, she realized it would be impossible to fall back asleep as she removed the thick duvet off her body when she noticed she was only in her underwear and had no idea how she left the bar, got home or even where Alex was.

_Alex._

Piper frantically searched around her room in hopes of finding something to cover herself with until she found a hoodie on top of the silver heater in her room(which she should've realized was not a very safe thing to do, but this was not the time to worry about a fire hazard). Throwing it on messily and struggling to stick her arm up the sleeve, she left the room in search for her roommate.

Finally succeeding at covering herself, the blonde landed her eyes on a surprisingly dressed Alex, sitting on the black stool by the kitchen counter and folding little pieces of paper. "Al?"

The brunette turned around to face her roommate, and a smile appeared on her face "Hey" she got up from her seat and walked towards Piper to kiss her cheek "Well, seems like your head didn't explode"

"It's almost there, give it a few more minutes until I pass out" she tried to joke, but the expression on her face and the now closed eyes confirmed how bad her migraine was.

"Here" Alex grabbed her hand and placed a pill on her palm "I already took one and it is working wonders for me right now"

Piper took the pill and tried to swallow it dry, but the pill got stuck in her throat and her eyes shot open, gesturing that she needed help, causing her roommate to chuckle.

"Don't be so dramatic" the brunette grabbed the water bottle she had been drinking while doing the origami and handed it to the younger girl, who drank the entire rest of its contents, her thirst growing by the minute in typical hangover fashion.

Piper opened the fridge and grabbed two more bottles, handing one to her roommate and placed her elbow on the counter, holding her chin up with the palm of her hand "So what exactly happened last night?"

Alex lifted her eyebrows and placed a hand on her chest, pretending to be offended by the blonde's lack of memory "So you're telling me you don't remember coming 5 times?!"

The blonde opened her mouth and formed a really shocked expression on her face, until Alex's face broke into a fit of laughter "Alex" she blushed "Are you joking?"

"Unfortunately, yes" she used her finger to wipe a smudge from the girl's eyeliner right under her left eye, then moved her hand to cup her cheek and looked into her eyes "So you don't remember anything?"

Piper made a huge effort to try and remember last night's events to no avail "Do I want to know what happened?"

"You threw up all over the cab! A few times in a row, actually. The driver was pretty fucking pissed, we're lucky we were almost home when he kicked us out"

Alex laughed at the memory but it was not a pleasant thing for the blonde to hear or try to imagine; she was too embarrassed.

Alex kissed her forehead "Happens to the best of us, kid. No need to be embarrassed" and then returned to her seat, back to making her origami.

Piper smiled at the tenderness of the kiss and struggled to keep her eyes open so she could focus on her roommate "What are you doing?"

"Not you, obviously" she finished folding a paper dove "What does it look like I'm doing?"

"I know it's origami" she walked behind Alex and placed a hand on her shoulder, looking over it to get a closer look at the creations that sat on the kitchen counter "But is this a hobby or something I don't know about? That behind that badass attitude, the real Alex is no more than a huge nerd?"

"_Ha-ha_, very funny. _I am_ a badass and you know it." She placed her hand on top of the hand that Piper had yet to remove from the brunette's shoulder "But tomorrow is Christmas Eve and my mom always sends me a fucking tree and makes me decorate it. I'm doing it before it's too late, or I'll never hear the end of it. That woman has a big mouth"

"You do know they sell arrangements exactly for the purpose of decorating, right?"

Alex shrugged and returned to folding the piece she was currently working on, seeming bothered by the road the conversation was leading to.

Piper sensed the discomfort "What's wrong? I like them, don't get me wrong, I was just asking because it's… unusual? Paper decorations?"

Alex took a deep breath and fixed her glasses "When I was a kid, the total budget we had for a tree and ornaments was around 3 dollars. This is as much as you can get with that kind of money: a shitty thrift store tree and some scrapbook papers." She closed her eyes as she finished speaking, not sure if she was regretting what she had just shared or if she was relieved to finally talk to someone about it.

The older girl sharing details of her childhood was unexpected to both of them; especially because this was the first time she actually told Piper something about what life was like way before they met.

Not really thinking, Piper took a step closer so her front was facing Alex's back and wrapped her arms around the girl's torso, squeezing her into a hug "It looks really nice, Al. I mean it."

Alex nodded and freed herself from the blonde's hold, walking to the refrigerator and opening it, not really looking for anything in particular; "When do you leave for your parents' house?"

Piper shrugged "Early tomorrow morning, I guess" she then drank the rest of her water in a single gulp "But can you tell me what exactly happened last night? And why was I in my underwear?"

Alex smirked at the memory of the barely naked blonde "Because you puked all over your clothes" she took a sip of the water bottle Piper had given her "Right after we started making out in the cab."

"Oh! Oh" she scrunched her face up, the memory invading her mouth and the nauseating feeling returning to her body "It's just… You don't usually smoke that many cigarettes"

Little did the blonde know that she was the reason behind all the cigarettes that Alex chain smoked. The taller girl was extremely anxious to return to NY and see Piper to fix things up between them that she went through more than a pack that day.

"Don't you blame my cigarettes. Those drinks you ordered were some of the most disgusting things I have ever tasted" She was no longer able to hold back a laugh "It was a weird brown color, too. It's going to be hell getting the stains out of your clothes. Taking that many was a horrible idea"

Piper closed her eyes "Ahh, don't remind me of their taste" she took the last swig of her second water bottle

Alex chuckled and closed the refrigerator, walking around the counter and towards the blonde "Is there anything I can cook that you would actually want to taste?" she looked at Piper mischievously with a smirk on her face.

"Are you trying to get in my pants?"

Alex lifted an eyebrow and turned to look at Piper, surprised by the girl's new behavior and newly found courage "I am, actually. But only after you brush your teeth" she smiled

Piper stuck her tongue out "Fine. I should probably take a shower as well…"

"Off you go, then"

* * *

Piper had been in the shower for about five minutes when Alex opened the shower curtain and made her way inside, catching the blonde by surprise by wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her before she could protest. Piper shivered at the sudden contact of their naked bodies for the first time and bit Alex's lower lip, intensifying their kiss.

Alex moved her hands down the sides of Piper's body, her fingers tracing the skin as if trying to memorize every inch of her body. She moved her lips to the blonde's neck, kissing it before making her way down to her collarbones.

Piper closed her eyes but moved one of her hands to knead Alex's breast while her other hand held the girl's neck.

Alex let out a small moan at the sensation and moved her head up to whisper in Piper's ear "Every time I see you I can't stop wondering what you taste like" she bit her earlobe and moved her hand down between their bodies, placing it on Piper's mound and teasingly running her middle finger between her pussy lips, causing Piper to grab Alex's hair and move her legs a bit further apart, making it easy for the brunette to slip her finger between her folds, down her clit to her opening, gathering the moisture that was increasing. She ran her finger back up the girl's clit and ran it in circles a couple of times before withdrawing it and placing it between her lips, licking it clean as she opened her eyes and looked into the blue ones in front of her;

The expression on Alex's face was probably the hottest thing Piper had ever witnessed and she moved her own hand to Alex's pussy, rubbing her clit and removing her finger to copy the girl's previous action, moaning at the taste.

Alex backed her up against the wall and kissed her hard, her hand travelling back to rub circles on Piper's clit while her other hand tightly squeezed her ass. Piper's hand returned to Alex's breast, alternating between pinching her nipple and kneading her breast while the other held Alex's hair as their kisses grew sloppier and their breaths became more ragged.

Piper broke the kiss to gasp for air when Alex moved her body down and got on her knees, running one of her hands on the inside of the blonde's thighs and the other squeezing her butt cheek before sliding her hand to her thigh, lifting her leg and placing it on her shoulder as she nipped on the skin between her mound and her thigh until she started licking and sucking each of her outer lips.

Piper moved her hand down to tangle her fingers in Alex's hair, trying to move her head closer. Alex got the hint and spread her pussy open with her tongue, licking her clit and lightly sucking it as she ran a finger up and down the girl's slit. She then pushed a finger inside the blonde, causing her to let out a moan, which only encourage Alex to continue, as she started curling her finger inside her.

The blonde grabbed Alex's hair tighter and Alex slipped another finger inside her, thrusting deeper inside of her as she continued licking Piper's pussy and sped up the motions of her hand. Piper removed her thigh from the girl's shoulder and pulled Alex's hair to lift her up, biting her lip and kissing her hard while Alex sped up her fingers, curling them inside her and used her thumb to apply pressure on Piper's clit. That was enough to get her over the edge and Alex felt the beginning of Piper's orgasm on her fingers. She gave her a final and hard thrust, enough to draw her over the edge. Piper's knees weakened and she came while moaning Alex's name.

The brunette pulled her into a kiss and held Piper's body up while her other hand was still on the girl's pussy, fingers still thrusting inside her slowly, trying to calm her down.

Piper's hands moved to the sides of Alex's face and she tried her best to kiss her while still trying to get her breathing back to normal. She slowly opened her eyes and saw a smile on the brunette's face. A different smile, though. Not the cocky and confident smile that Alex usually had on, but a truly honest one, leaving Piper speechless.

"Horrible, wasn't it?"

Piper playfully rolled her eyes and bit Alex's bottom lip "You could use a little more practice later"

Alex's face broke into a smirk and she lifted an eyebrow "Yeah? I'm willing to take that challenge"

Piper smiled, her tiredness and hangover now forgotten when Alex pecked her on the lips and got out of the shower, leaving a confused blonde alone with the water running down her back.

* * *

**Hi! The reason it took me so long to post this was the fact that I suck at writing smut and didn't want to let y'all down, so here's my apology if you were expecting something really hot and all. **

**This chapter was originally going to include Christmas itself but it's already too long, so I broke it down into two. **

**To the people that are still here and didn't unfollow this story, please share your thoughts on it. It probably won't be longer than 18 chapters so this is just a heads up. Thank you for each and every one of your precious reviews and pms. You're the best.**


	16. Chapter 16

Piper was quick to turn the shower faucet off and get dressed into her white robe, heading out of the bathroom and into the hall in silence, so many thoughts and emotions running around her mind and body that she couldn't even mutter a word.

Blue eyes quickly spot Alex sitting on her mattress, fumbling around in the suitcase the blonde had lent her for the trip to LA, and the confusion on her mind seems to, somehow, and god only knows how, become even more twisted up.

In an unusual reaction, the anger for being left alone in the shower right after their first time seemed to vanish from Piper's mind, because there was no smirk on Alex's face; her mind seemed to be distant as she ran her hands through the contents in the suitcase in front of her, not bothering to actually find anything specific but rather just keeping her hands busy. If anything, the expression on the brunette's face couldn't be especially deciphered but Piper could see a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"Al?" she asks while leaning against the doorframe, her arms around her own body, making sure the robe was closed

Alex looked up at her roommate in surprise, fumbling the contents in front of her even faster, as if trying to hide something and she abruptly got back on her feet, her towel nearly falling off "Yeah?"

Words vanished from Piper's mind for a second as she tried to elaborate a proper sentence. Useless attempt.

"Hey, um" the brunette took a step towards Piper "I was just looking for something in my bag"

It was a blatant lie and Piper lifted an eyebrow, silently telling Alex that she didn't believe her.

"No, um, before I left for LA we talked about how you always forget to buy a shower cap and you desperately need one" she turned around and grabbed something from inside the suitcase "I got you this" she then handed the younger girl a small transparent package labelled "Shower Cap"

She instantly felt offended by the older girl's actions and the resentment of what happened in the bathroom started to fill up in Piper's mind. "And you left me alone in the bathroom to give me this? A hotel shower cap?"

"Pipes, come on" she walked towards the blonde and grabbed her wrist, trying to pull her closer but Piper set herself free.

Everything just didn't seem fair to the blonde. She knew how deep in love she was and she made it pretty clear, but sometimes Alex's vague and cold behavior made Piper feel used. The worst part, however, was how Alex could make her feel like the most important and loved person in the world if she wanted to. She's protective, caring, pays attention to details, but she can never voice whatever it is that she's feeling. _And that pisses the hell out of her._

"You broke our deal"

"What are you talking about?"

"Our 'no sex until you decide what you feel towards me' deal"

Even if she knew that was true, Alex couldn't help but smirk at the memory of what they had done a few minutes ago and bit her lip "Piper"

The stupid smirk was the final thread for Piper and she snapped "Or wait - do you finally have an answer?! Huh? Have you finally figured out if I'm just another quick fuck to you or have you actually realized that I like you, Alex? Because I'm so tired of thinking about you! It's like every day I run and every day it's not far enough away from thoughts of you!"

"You're not making any sense" she grabbed her glasses that were by the window and put them on, nervously fixing them as she bit the inside of her mouth "I'm not good with words, Piper"

"Oh really?! Because from what I know you make a living by writing words on some very important column! Are they doing some charity sort of hiring, then? Just grab anyone that asks them for an application form! They must be such great bosses!"

The taller girl sighed when the blonde finally stopped rambling "I'm not good at talking about my feelings"

The blonde shook her head in annoyance and huffed in frustration, then threw both of her hands up beside her face, signaling that she had given up "Don't come after me" and with that, she slammed the doors of both her roommate's and her own.

"…fuck me"

* * *

Thinking about having to leave New York for the Holidays is something that has been haunting Piper's brain for weeks, and the recent events with Alex just made the whole thing entirely worse.

To most people, Christmas is about a religious celebration, but since the blonde had no religious belief whatsoever, it's always been just a celebration, a time to be happy and forget all the issues you have with your family(made easier with the help of ridiculous amounts of alcohol, of course), enjoy a nice meal together and giving and receiving gifts.

But not this time. For reasons unbeknownst to Alex, because Piper doesn't dare to admit the issues she has with her parents, going back "home" was not something the girl was looking forward to. In fact, in the past few months, her entire concept of "home" changed the second Alex walked through that apartment's door for the first time, hand in hand with her, when Piper was wishing with all her strength that the brunette would move in.

Being with Alex during the holidays was the only thing on her list… even with all the hurt she felt from the girl's previous actions, when she left Piper still breathing heavily in the shower… by herself. As upset as she was, nothing came close to the way Alex makes her feel.

Piper felt lonely. And, in order to turn loneliness into being alone, or at least not having to face her roommate, the only way out was leaving their apartment a day earlier than planned and running away from her biggest problem right now(even if, in reality, she thought Alex was the actual solution to all of her troubles), in true Chapman style. With that, at least one Christmas tradition would remain.

After packing a medium sized duffel bag, she gathered enough courage and placed the gift she had gotten her roommate inside it, then headed to her bedroom and knocked on the door, which quickly flew open to reveal an unusually disheveled brunette who lifted a questioning eyebrow at a fully dressed Piper.

"I'm going to my parent's. Please feed Olivia tomorrow before you leave"

She then turned to leave, desperately hoping Alex would grab her by the waist, turn her around and jump in bed on top of her… but it was useless. Alex simply bit her lip and fixed her glasses as she nodded.

And that nod, that stupid fucking nod, it only resulted in one thing: another crack in Piper's heart.

Shutting her eyes tight to avoid any tears from falling, the blonde turned around and left without looking back.

* * *

The next day, Piper returns to their apartment, turning the lock on the door and tripping over something. She curses after falling on her knees and turns back around, facing the door, trying to discover what caused her fall, and her eyes land on a pair of shoes that she doesn't recognize. "What the…"

"Piper?"

Turning around, the blonde is faced by two sets of green eyes staring at her, the stranger's hand swiftly placed on Alex's shoulder in a protective way.

"…shit"

* * *

**I know, I know, this is shoooooooort, but this site has been so slow lately that I thought I'd give y'all at least SOMETHING. **

**Start writing stories, people! Even if you think you can't, give it a try. I know I'd love to read what you can come up with.**

_**PS: Something weird happened with this story this week and I want to thank the followers that pointed it out through PM or stood up for me. You are really fucking awesome and there's nothing but love here. **_


	17. HELP NEEDED

_Ok so first of all don't kill me – an update will be up either today or tomorrow to make up for this, but I really need your help!_

Does anyone have **"The calm after the storm"** by Wanderingbrowneyes saved into your computer?! She lost chapter 8 and it would be greatly appreciated if someone had it?! Or maybe someone here knows how to undo that action? Anyone? Please?


	18. Chapter 17

**First of all, I apologize if anyone was upset at the last 'update', but at the same time I'm very thankful for all the amazing people that had wanderingbrowneyes's story and were nice enough to send it to both her and me. That was priceless. Thank you.**

* * *

**Back to my story, let's rewind this a bit... Flashback starts off an hour after Piper left the apartment.**

Nicky pushes their shopping cart, almost hitting other costumers in the crowded grocery store "Let me get things clear here. So in this scenario, she's chasing and you're running, which makes you Jerry and blondie is Tom?!"

Alex lifted an eyebrow at her friend "I'm not even sure you should be allowed to try and create a metaphor"

"Oh c'mon, Vause. You can't just call me that intoxicated in the middle of the night while you're on the other side of the fucking country, let me add, right after you ditched a woman that was throwing herself at you, telling me you _need_ to see Chapman and then expect me not to ask about it" Nicky tries to jump so she can reach a can of Pringles that was on a higher shelf but fails "Don't just stand there you stupid giant, make yourself useful here"

Alex sighs and grabs the can, handing it to Nicky who throws it in their shopping cart as if shooting a basketball, then proudly smiles that it didn't fall off. The taller girl sighs and turns to the next isle, grabbing a small bottle of paprika and scanning through the other spices.

"What the fuck is that?"

"A condiment" she answers without turning to face her friend as she narrowed her eyes to try to read the label of another product amongst the condiment section "How do they expect anyone to read such tiny letters?"

"Still blind, eh?" the shorter girl laughs "The hell you need these for? You know you can buy takeout right? Unless Piper gave you cooking less- hold up! Are you cooking her a surprise dinner or some shit like that?! _Wow_, you ARE whipped!"

"I'm not cooking anything" she grabs the cart and walks along the aisle, grabbing a few other unusual things(to both of them, at least), and ignores the glances her friend has been giving her each time she adds something to the cart "Is there anything else that you need?"

"Are you kidding me? There's no Christmas without wine! That would be a sin and I'm too much of a good friend to the birthday boy" Nicky starts grabbing several different bottles of alcohol but eventually stops when she realizes Alex is reading the label of bottle of white wine "Vause, when did you become such a pussy that drinks fucking white wine?! Are you becoming a parkslope asshole too?" she looks up to the ceiling, as if talking to a higher power "You better come back, dude, this world is doomed"

Alex rolled her eyes for what seemed like the tenth time in the past hour and placed the bottle inside her cart, heading to the cashiers, but Nicky steps in front of the cart, blocking her path.

"If I didn't know better, I'd say blondie got you wrapped around her finger and you're becoming a housewife. Even worse, a love sick housewife"

Alex shrugs "I'm just buying being a good friend and buying some things that Piper might need because of her school"

"Bullshit" Nicky rummages the contents in the cart and lifts some fresh herbs her friend had picked out at the fresh produce section "We lived together for months and you never bought weird green stuff just because I might have mentioned it once"

It was true. All the while both girls lived together, Alex never bothered noticing if Nicky was running out of her favorite brand of ketchup or if she preferred a certain scent for her fabric softener or anything else, at least not the way she takes notice for every single detail about Piper and her preferences.

Alex knew she had fucked up. The shower cap was a ridiculous thing to give the blonde, yes, but it was just another one of the small things she so carefully paid attention to; those little things that remind of you of someone and you know that despite their value, there is a sense of caring and protecting involved. Sure, it was just a crappy and valueless hotel souvenir – but when she entered her hotel's bathroom and noticed the item, a smile invaded her face as she remembered how silly and naïve Piper looks and sounds sometimes; how cute it was that she always wants certain things but doesn't bother to ever purchase them, or even forgets about said stuff.

But Alex doesn't forget. There is nothing about Piper she can ever forget.

And it terrified her to accept how much she fucked up by not giving the girl what she was _actually looking for_ in her suitcase.

* * *

**Now back to where the last chapter ended:**

"So this is Piper, huh? So pretty"

The blonde wandered her eyes to scan the person in front of her closely, but she knew who this woman was the second she laid eyes on her.

"Don't be shy, get over here!" the older woman grabbed Piper by the arm and pulled her into a hug "Please tell me this one here hasn't made you go insane yet". As they pulled away from each other, Diane looks deep inside blue eyes and fake-whispers "I can see she already has!"

"Pipes-"

The nickname caused Piper to glare at Alex, signaling how pissed it made her that Alex had the audacity to call her that after what they'd been through the previous day.

"I'm Diane, sweetheart" she grabs Alex, who until then was standing frozen, not knowing how to react "This one's mom"

Piper's behavior quickly switches to the politeness she was taught growing up "It's great to finally meet you, Diane", she says with an honest smile that quickly faded when she looked at Alex again "I thought you were spending Christmas at her place"

"No…" she fixes her glasses "I told you I'd be spending it with my mom, never mentioned where"

"Well don't get shy" Diane interrupted "I hope you plan on staying, Piper. Alex decided she would cook but I can't bring myself to trust her with that task, so a chef's help would be greatly appreciated"

Still speechless, Piper once again looks at Alex, silently pleading her to say something, _anything,_ that could possibly get them out of that situation. The problem wasn't Diane; Piper simply had no desire to spend time with her roommate right now. The wound was still too fresh.

However, just like she usually does, the brunette proved her wrong by walking towards her and taking the duffel bag from the girl's hands, turning towards her room to leave the bag in there.

The already well known smirk that usually plastered Alex's face showed its roots by the expression painted on Diane's face, which was sensing exactly what had been going on between her daughter and her roommate. She then turned her back and headed towards the kitchen, leaving both girls by themselves.

.

"I'm not staying" she says with her eyes still narrowed, her anger clearly visible.

Alex ignores her statement "Why did you return from your parent's?"

"It's none of your business" the blonde takes a few steps towards the front door

"Stop acting like a child, Piper" Alex said as she quickly walked up to Piper, getting in the way between her and the front door, avoiding any possible scape. "If you don't want to tell me what happened between you and your folks, fine, I won't insist" she lifted her hand off the doorknob but kept an eye on it, hoping the blonde wouldn't reach for it "But I'm not letting you go outside by yourself in this freezing cold, and don't even try to convince me that you're going home because I'm not buying that"

Alex's intuition was right, there was no way the blonde would head to her parent's house at this hour, and it scared the shit out of Piper that Alex could read her so well. When she left the day before, the blonde headed to her classmate's apartment and spent the night there as a favor, instead of actually going to her family's house. However, her friend had to head home for the Holiday and, therefore, Piper didn't have a place to stay. Thinking Alex had headed to New Jersey to spend Christmas at her mom's place, she thought it would be safe to return to their apartment, where she planned on spending the day under the covers watching old movies, stuffing her face with unhealthy snacks and cuddling with Olivia. Never in a million years did she expect to run into both Alex and Diane.

The sound of something metallic falling on the kitchen floor caused both girls to step out of their dazes. Seeing this as an opportunity to rid herself of the apparent trap of being alone with the brunette, Piper turned to walk into the kitchen, but Alex ran past her.

The fallen object was the pan Diane had been using to simmer her gravy and, somehow, the liquid not only covered a good part of the floor but also her shirt and arms.

"MOM! Are you alright? Did you get burned?" the surprisingly anxious girl asked as she started examining the older woman's arms while Piper examined her behavior. Alex was usually calm and collected, but the fear of her mother being hurt was clearly visible on her facial and body expressions.

"I'm fine, baby" she wipes her hand on her sweatpants and kisses her daughter's head "But I think I need a shower. You two should start cooking something before we starve to death or end up ordering take-out!" she says as she leaves the room.

Piper looked around the groceries that were scattered on the counter, slightly amazed at the selection of ingredients, and jumps up in surprise when she hears a raspy voice coming from behind her

"Pistachio-crusted catfish with clementine salad" Alex placed a hand on the small of Piper's back and pointed at the ingredients as she described them "Garnished with Israeli couscous and roasted fennel"

Swatting the brunette's hand away, the blonde took a step to the side, widening the distance between them "Impressive. I take it I'm not the first cook you fucked before leaving her alone?!"

Alex sighed and rolled her eyes "When are you going to talk to me like an actual human being?"

"Oh, I don't know. How about when you stop being an asshole?!" the blonde said as she filled a pan with water and set it on the stove, turning it on so it could boil.

Alex grabbed the bottle of olive oil to add some to the water but her hand is stopped by the blonde's "You should only add the oil when the water is already boiling" despite the statement, Piper didn't remove her hand off Alex's at first, causing both girls to look at their joined limbs until the blonde broke away

"Right"

"I'm not doing this" she motions to the stove "For you, by the way. I'm doing this for your mom, who is surprisingly not an asshole like her daughter". She then turned to grab the fennel and angrily chopped it into spears

"You know what? Fine! Be a child!" she fumed, never breaking eye contact "I can do this" she points at the stove "by myself. So by all means, don't feel any obligation to help"

A mix of unpleasant emotions kept taking the place for any sane thoughts in the girl's mind, so Piper childishly throws the fouet in the sink, turns around and goes back to her room, closing the door.

* * *

After finishing her shower, Diane heads to the kitchen only to see her daughter by herself, struggling to finish their meals, the expression on her face being one that moms dread the most. Silently approaching her spawn, she grabs the pale arm and wraps around Alex, who instantly starts crying, finally allowing herself to do so, feeling safe in the comfort of her mother's arms. Diane soothes her daughter's back in silence, even if she felt like her heart was being stabbed for not knowing what could've caused her girl so much pain, until Alex finally catches a breathe and breaks the silence:

"We never catch a break, mom" she pauses to take a deep breathe, trying to hold back any more tears that threatened to fall "it's like whenever things are finally going great and I'm sure of what I want, some fucking bomb is dropped and everything falls apart!" another pause and Diane kisses her head, encouraging her to continue "I feel that she's everything I've ever wanted but never knew that I needed" she wipes a tear "And it seems that everything's telling me it won't work; that I have to fuck this up because I don't deserve it. That I don't deserve her"

"I didn't bust my ass to raise you to act stupid, Alex!" she smirks

A small smile invades Alex's face at her mother's bluntness; one of the girl's favorite qualities in her mom

"That girl is head over heels for you, baby" she caresses her daughter's cheek

"Everything about her drives me crazy… Especially her presence"

* * *

Piper hears knocking on her door but, assuming it's Alex, tells her to go away.

"Alex is in the kitchen, can I come in?"

Piper sighs, wipes her face and tries to fix her hair as she gets up and opens the door for Diane to come in, closing it behind her.

Diane looks around the blonde's room then turns her gaze to the young girl and smiles "Well, this is the second most tear filled Christmas Eve that I've ever attended"

Piper sniffs and lifts an eyebrow looking at the older woman "Wait… who else is crying?"

Diane smirks but ignores the girl's question "We still need your help if any of us is actually planning to eat a meal tonight"

The blonde sits on her bed and fiddles with the edge of the duvet and bites her quivering lip.

"Oh, honey. I have no idea what went on between you two that caused you so much resentment" Diane tucked a stranded lock of blonde hair behind the girl's ear "But I know my Alex is a good person. And I know she feels something really strong for you… She talks about you like you put the stars in the sky"

Piper looks up into the piercing green eyes "She talks to you about me?" the blonde places her hands on her thighs in an attempt to keep them busy "And what do you mean, she talks about me like that?"

Diane chuckled at the girl's obliviousness "She looks at you like that, too"

Smiles grow on both of their faces but it doesn't last for the blonde "That doesn't make her less of an idiot. A stupid, narcissist asshole that would never admit to actually liking me or fully let me into her life"

"I don't know how deep your feelings are for her, Piper, but when you love someone, you love them for who they are. You love their flaws and insecurities. Your first mistake is trying to change them. Feelings this deep are all too new, unusual and scary for her, and she's had reasons to behave this way. Give it some time and she will come around, baby."

* * *

**Are you ready to let the drama be gone for good?! Because I know I am! We need some Vauseman love, but you know with these two, getting to that point is everything but simple… But we're almost there *winks***

**Reviews are greatly appreciated!**


	19. Chapter 18

As they approached the kitchen, the sound of a sizzling pan seemed to mix perfectly with the sound coming out of the speakers of Alex's phone, bossa nova playing as the girl sprinkled pepper on the frying fish and hummed along to the song.

The sight mesmerized Piper and she couldn't shift her vision away from Alex, not even accounting when Diane turned to look at her and followed her line of vision until she saw her daughter. Snickering, she shakes her head and mutters _"these two…"_

"Wine?" the older woman breaks the silence after opening the fridge and opening the cold bottle of Muscadet her daughter had purchased while shopping with her friend.

Snapping out of her daze, the blonde abruptly turns to the older woman "YES!". Noticing the eagerness, now it was Alex's turn to stifle a laugh at the girl's antics, but gladly accepted the glass her mother handed her. Diane then proceeded to fill the blonde's glass first. Halfway into the glass, she lifted the bottle to fill her daughter's glass but Piper grabbed the bottle and filled her glass to its fullest, drinking almost half of the contents in one large gulp.

Lifting an eyebrow as the wine invaded her taste buds, Piper was impressed with its quality "Diane, this is amazing!"

The older woman took a sip after filling the remaining two glasses and smirked at her daughter, their communication not requiring words.

Alex smirked herself; "Thanks"

"You picked this?!" she took another sip and was delighted. She murmured 'hm' at the realization and pursed her lips together, her bottom lip pursed out.

The brunette ignores the obvious question and grabs a knife to start chopping some onions, until she places the knife back on the chopping block and places her glasses on top of her head, using the sleeve of her sweatshirt to cover and minimize the sting in her eyes. Piper approaches her and places her nearly empty wine glass on the counter "Pass me the knife"

Alex lifts a questioning eyebrow "So you can stab me with it?" she smirks

Piper glares at her "very funny" then grabs the knife and opens the faucet, pouring water over it and handing it back to her roommate "This is going to prevent you from crying"

"Thanks" she places her glasses back on her face, then takes a sip of her own drink and resumes the chopping as the blonde grabs a handful of parsley and finely chops it with easiness, causing mom and daughter to stare at the girl's impressive skills.

* * *

"Then as soon as the taxi took the second turn, she turned to me in the most polite manner possible and asked 'Would you mind if I got sick?' while looking into my eyes, so I told her I'd rather she wouldn't do it and, one second later, her head is bowing down and there's puke ALL over the backseat!"

Piper's eyes widen as Alex tells her mom the story of her epic drunken episode the day Alex got back from her work trip, not believing the girl would share something like that with her own mother. If she ever tried to tell Carol Chapman a story like that, her mother would've cut her off as soon as she mentioned the cab, talking about how uninteresting that was and changing the subject to a random and scandalized gossip about her circle of 'friends'; However, Diane was laughing harder than her daughter, clearly amused by the story.

The blonde gets up from the couch and grabs her empty plate "Alex" she glares at the girl "Would you give me a hand here?"

They both walk to the kitchen, placing the empty dishes on the sink, then turn to face each other

"Are you insane?! Is that the image you want your mom to have of me?!"

An amused look invades the taller girl's face and she chuckles "Pipes, please. My mom loves you!"

The mention of the word 'love' causes both of them to fall into an uncomfortable silence, until Alex steps closer to the younger girl and rubs both of her arms, looking into her eyes. "She does"

"Yeah" she swallows a lump in her throat, unsure if her roommate was trying to double mean her words "Maybe she does"

Alex moves one of her hands to caress the girl's cheek with her thumb as her other hand squeezes her shoulder. The younger girl sighs at the contact and closes her eyes to prevent her eyes from watering when she feels the brunette move closer to her and place her lips where her thumb was previously touching, lingering there for a few moments. Not really removing the lips from the girl's face, Alex glides her lips over the skin until they reach Piper's lips. Alex pecks her once, twice, then for the third time, lingering there, until pulling away and opening her eyes as the blonde's eyelids opened to reveal blue eyes. They stare at each other for a few seconds in complete silence, until Piper finally speaks up

"Al" she takes a step away from her roommate, remembering the conversation she had with Diane about Alex's past "I don't want to change you"

Alex lifted an eyebrow at the girl's sudden change of behavior, but allowed her to resume her rant

"Listen, I don't know if I'd feel the way I do about you if you weren't such an asshole" she turned to grab another bottle of wine, now a Bordeaux, and continued speaking "But if you have something to say, something you need or want to admit, I don't know, whatever it is" she realized she was blabbering "The point is, if you feel _anything_ for me, Alex" she removed the cork "You _need_ to be able to tell me" she grabbed the bottle and turned back to her roommate, grabbing two glasses that were near the sink and filling them up "And until then, we'll just be roommates" she faked a smile and walked back to the living room, bottle in a hand and glass in the other, and offered to fill Diane's glass up.

* * *

_Many drinks and a couple of hours later…_

"Piper!" Diane exclaimed, clearly intoxicated "Do you want to hear a funny story from when Alex was a baby?"

The already tipsy blonde laughed and nearly shouted over excitement while answering 'yes'. Meanwhile, Alex rolled her eyes and sighed, knowing it would be useless to try and convince her mother of keeping her mouth shut. If anyone had complete power over Alex, this person was Diane(although she suspected Piper was becoming a close second).

The older woman knocked back some more wine "Well, when my baby was an actual baby" she smiled fondly at her daughter "I was a little worried because the other kids her age at the daycare were already walking, so my sister came up with an idea to put some tiny shoes on her feet, thinking it would encourage her to take her first steps" she grabbed a piece of a random sort of cheese from the charcuterie on the coffee table "She didn't walk, but she did say her first words: 'take them off!'"

Diane and Piper broke into a fit of laughter, and Alex couldn't hold back a small smile at the sight of the two women she cared the most for having fun and chatting together as if they'd known each other forever. She had never introduced any of her 'affairs' to her mom. Even if this wasn't planned, she couldn't help but feel relieved that the two of them were hitting it off so well.

* * *

"Alright girls, I'm off to bed!" Diane kissed the top of Piper's head and unsteadily walked toward her daughter, kissing her forehead "Thank you both for dinner, it was delicious" she grabbed her small suitcase from one of the living room's corners and walked to Alex's room as she muttered a few more words to herself, but loud enough for everyone to hear "FINALLY someone that makes Alex swoon! And COOK! It's a fucking Christmas miracle! Ho ho ho"

Both girls exchanged uncomfortable glances "Thank you for helping me with dinner" Alex said as she drank the last of her wine "I couldn't have done it without your assistance"

"Oh, come on" Piper messily stretched on the couch, a couple of bones crackling "You were doing a great job without me"

"Maybe" Alex straightened her back "But it's always better when you're around"

* * *

Alex was lying on her back, eyes fixated on the ceiling, her mom laid beside her, breathing with a muffled snore. Lighting up her phone, the girl squinted her eyes to look at the time: 3:54am. She remembered the last sentences she and Piper had exchanged before both went to their separate bathrooms 'it's always better when you're around'. The memory took her back to something she'd read somewhere: 'That's how you know you love someone, I guess. When you can't experience anything great without wishing the other person were there to see it too'. Because deep inside, when Alex decided to prepare a meal, it wasn't just intended to impress her mom – she knew that Diane swoons over everything her daughter does – but it was also preparation to eventually cook something for the blonde.

The usual New York sounds didn't seem to reach her ears as she recalled when earlier in the night, Piper gave her a speech when they were in the kitchen, giving Alex an ultimatum to open up about her feelings. Taking a deep sigh and accepting the fact she wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, she put her glasses on and stood up, making sure not to awake Diane, then grabbed a small box inside her closet using her phone's lantern. She has to do this, and she will not chicken out. That was the thing the bothered Alex the most when it came to the blonde: she makes her want things she never knew she wanted. And, in that moment, she made up her mind.

Without hesitation, Alex opened the door to Piper's room and walked inside, sitting beside the sleeping girl on the bed. Some cars passed by and its lanterns lit up her room for a few seconds ever so often, allowing the brunette to stare at the girl's face for a couple of minutes.

Even though the brunette barely moved, Piper suddenly opened her eyes, almost jumping out of bed in shock of someone else being in her room

"Jesus, Alex!" she tried to catch her breath, her heart pounding fast at the scare of waking up to someone staring directly at your face "You scared me!"

Alex chuckled and bit her lip at the girl's adorableness, moving her hand to place some loose strands of blonde hair behind her ear, not bothering to apologize for breaking into the room "I want to give you your Christmas gift"

The blonde yawned and scratched her left eye with the back of her hand "Can't we do this in the morning? Like normal people?"

"And what's the fun in that?" she moved to turn the bedside table lamp on, both sets of eyes suffering from the sudden bright light until finally adjusting to it

"Fine" Piper sat up and yawned again, and in that moment, every contradiction in the brunette's brain vanished. "Where is it?"

Alex didn't answer but handed the blonde the small box covered in black and white patterned wrapping paper, with a silky fabric around it and a tied black lace on top. Piper quickly undid the silky lace and carefully opened the paper and the black box that was inside; revealing a thin gold necklace with a round pendant with some vertical, however with uneven lines engraved on it.

"Alex" she looked up at the girl as she ran her fingertips on the gold pendant "I can't take this"

"You can and you will" she then pointed at the engraved pattern "It's a sound wave" she took the necklace out of the box and opened the clasp and lifted it up, motioning for the blonde to come closer. She closed it around the girl's neck while she felt the girl's breath on her face due to how close their faces were, until she moved back and stared at the blonde while waiting for a response, starting to feel slightly insecure when she didn't hear one at first.

Piper looked down at the pendant she was holding with her fingers, then back into green eyes "Do the sound waves stand for anything?"

"Yes" Alex shifted uncomfortably and fixed her glasses "It means 'I'm sure'"

"You're sure?" she looked flabbergasted; "Of what?"

Looking into each other's eyes, the brunette finally spoke up "That I'd break all my rules for you"

With that last sentence, she closed the distance between them, capturing Piper's lips with her own.

* * *

**Oooooh, I'm so excited/hyper to post this that I doubt I'll be able to get any sleep waiting for your reviews, so: START WRITING THEM!**

**Especially because we're nearing the end of this story and I want to know what YOU think should happen in the next few chapters.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Knock knock **

**Anyone still here?**

**My sincerest apologies for the lack of updates. I'm very unhappy with this chapter and that's why it took me so long to post it. Kept trying to re-write it and fix it but no matter what, I still couldn't bring myself to enjoy it, but it's unfair to keep the loyal people that keep asking me for updates without an answer. **

**This chapter is quite lovey-dovey/cheesy so grab a drink and a candy bar and hopefully you'll enjoy it, loves.**

* * *

This kiss was, without a doubt, the softest they had shared so far.

There was absolutely no rush, no sneaky hands, not an ounce of desperation.

And Alex had never felt so contented with 'so little' action, because this kiss meant so much. It was expressing how her guard was down, giving into all the feelings she had been fighting for months now and opening a door to her soul for someone else, the first time in 28 years. And it felt _so damn good._

When they finally pulled apart, both kept their eyes closed for what seemed like eternity, as if they were afraid this was all a dream and opening their eyes meant waking up to a very different and harsh reality.

"Alex" the blonde opened her eyes and placed a hand on Alex's cheek "…are you sure you're not saying this just because you're drunk?"

The brunette chuckled and moved her head from side to side "Yes, Pipes, cause drunk me just happened to secretly be a metallurgic who somehow got a hold of a necklace and went inside her secret shop to carve weird lines on a tiny pendant in the middle of the night" she playfully glared at the younger girl, who smiled the most beautiful smile Alex had ever seen on anyone's face; if 'true happiness' had a face, it was the smile currently adorning Piper's face.

"So" Alex traces Piper's neck and runs her fingertip along the necklace and then holds the pendant with her fingertips, looking up at the girl "Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding me? I love it!" she looks into the brunette's eyes after her heart skips a beat at the word _love._ Looking down at the hand holding her Christmas present, she murmurs "How do you always do this?"

The taller girl softly runs her other hand on top of Piper's thighs "Do what?"

"You always leave me breathless" she bites her lower lip as she tries to think of which words to use "Everything, from taking me to Carlo's Bakery, to the sushi date, tonight's dinner, the wine pairing and now this…"

Alex lifts an eyebrow and smirks "So you actually enjoyed dinner" she moves to kiss the blonde's jawline

"Yes" she closes her eyes at the feeling of the girl's lips on her skin and holds the back of her head before capturing Alex's lips with her own, before both sets of arms wrapped around their bodies in a tight embrace.

Their kiss quickly intensifies but the brunette pulls away with a smile, resting her forehead on top of the blonde's, tracing the outline of her ear piercing and then her cheekbones; her eyes accompanying her hand's every move as the blonde stared at Alex's concentrated face.

Piper places her hands on the brunette's hips and pulls her higher up and pushes her on the bed so they were lying side by side now, facing each other; "Will you still be here in the morning?"

Alex chuckles "Yeah" pecks Piper's lips and pulls the girl closer so that their bodies were touching "I will be yours" she runs her tongue along the blonde's bottom lip "for as long as you want me to be"

And before they knew it, it was 4 am; there was no music, no muted din – there was nothing but the two of them… talking and talking and burning words, with tongues, onto skin.

* * *

Piper woke up in a fairly uncomfortable position; her right leg was sandwiched between the porcelain brunette's and her left arm had gone completely numb due to the weight of her own head. Moving her head slowly to take a better look around, she noticed that Alex's arm was tightly wrapped around her waist, while the older woman's legs were curled around her own as if she were afraid the blonde would leave if she were to let go. This was the first time that Piper realized how vulnerable Alex could be around her. And she absolutely loved it.

"Alex" the blonde caresses the girl's cheek with the hand she previously had on the girl's shoulder "Al, wake up"

The brunette groans and mutters something uncomprehensive, not bothering to open her eyes

"You have to sneak back into your bed so your mom won't know you spent the night here"

Alex chuckles "Piper, I'm a grown up" she wraps her arm tighter around the girl's body, pulling their bodies closer together, until Piper approaches her lips and slowly pecks her, but before the girl knows it, Alex is fully awake and turns their bodies so that she's lying on top of Piper, her knees straddling the blonde's waist and her hands travelling along the sides of her body under her shirt as she bites her bottom lip before kissing her.

A few seconds later, Piper pushes Alex's tongue out of her mouth and lifts her by her shoulders "Your morning breath tastes like dirt" she tries her best to say it with a disgusted look on her face, but isn't able to hold back a smile. In fact, at this moment, she feels like she's never going to stop smiling.

Alex, however, looks extremely offended and dumbfounded with raised eyebrows, and allows an uncomfortable silence to take over the room, until a terrified look invades the blonde's face and before she could start apologizing for her awful attempt at a joke, Alex lifts her torso so she's still sitting on top of Piper and starts frantically tickling the girl on her armpits, her ribs, neck, everywhere, and Piper alternates between extremely loud laughter and desperate pleads for Alex to stop, until she starts contorting her body because of the pain that the laughter caused in her stomach;

"Take it back, kid!" Alex says while laughing and shaking her head to keep her hair from covering her eyes so she could keep looking at Piper, even if blurred without her glasses;

Piper tries to catch her breath "No!"

"Piper!" she lifts her hand and moves her fingers like a claw, threatening to start the tickling again; "_Take_."

With difficulty to bring her breathing back to normalcy, the younger girl takes a deep breath and speaks up with the goofiest smile on her face "But I looove your dirty mouth!"

Alex lifts her eyebrows and smirks at the unexpected answer. Piper never ceased to amuse her, and while this was still extremely new and scary_, _it felt_ so damn good_. Reaching down to cup the blonde's face, Alex bent down to kiss her once more.

* * *

Both Alex and Piper are already in the kitchen eating breakfast when Diane walks in with disheveled hair and what seems to be a terrible headache. Her daughter snickers at the sight and grabs a bottle from a shelf on the wall, handing it to the older woman who gladly took accepted it, swallowing two pills at once without the help of any fluids.

"Trip down memory lane to the good old days, eh, mom?"

Diane glares at her daughter for a bit then smirks at her, walking over to kiss her cheek "Well the good old days didn't include hangovers" she opens the fridge to grab some water "Not like this one"

Piper, who was on the other side of the not so big kitchen, adding granola to her bowl of yogurt, smiled at their exchange, even though she was facing the wall and they couldn't see her.

"Piper, dear, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"Diane, it's fine, it was a delightful evening" she takes a spoonful of her food while smiling at the older woman

"I'm sorry, your first time meeting me and-"

"Seriously, don't worry about it" she interrupts as she shrugs "For a few years my mom lived off Martini's and cottage cheese, which was very impressive, considering there was absolutely no nutritional value in her diet" the blonde shrugs again "While she did that, my dad was out having what he thought were 'secret affairs' with other women" she takes a sip of her coffee "If I was at my parent's house, I'd be drinking this" she points to the mug "with rum"

Mother and daughter stared at each other after hearing the girl's speech, its content being clearly unexpected, as Piper always gave them the impression to have lived the perfect upscale white picket fence life with no worries other than what color she wanted her new car to be.

Diane broke the silence "So your mother knew that your father was cheating on her?"

"Yup" the blonde shrugs and answers as she spreads cream cheese on a slice of bread

"See, that's where they went wrong" she says while filling up a mug with coffee

"Mom…" Alex barges in with a warning tone, hoping Diane would stay out of the girl's personal life. Even after all this time living with Piper, she had yet to hear her background story. Not that she wasn't interested – however, she wanted to respect her boundaries, and she knew her mom wasn't very good at respecting borders. Or limits. Or anything. If bluntness had facial features, they included very bright green eyes and dark brown hair.

"Alex, it's fine" Piper shrugs then hands the newly prepared sandwich to Alex, causing Diane to notice that something was up as she lifted an eyebrow, but the blonde continued "I'm aware of how fucked up Chapman's are"

"You know, you can't ignore shit. Shit happens. Don't pretend it's not happening, go deal with it cause most people won't give a damn or even notice if you need help or not. With the people you love, there's got to be communication, dialogue, friendship, you know? You can't just be with someone for the physical aspect of it. Well, you can, but, you know" she grabs a couple of seedless grapes and sticks them in her mouth, then speaks before she starts chewing "just don't marry that person or get knocked up"

"And since when are you a relationship expert?!" Alex lifts an eyebrow at her mom "Am I missing some key information here? Any secret boyfriends I don't know about?"

Diane swallows the fruit "I might be old but I'm not dead, baby" she smirks back at her daughter then turns to the blonde "The second you stop telling each other what's going on inside your head, bam, it's all downhill from there"

"Is that what happened with you and Alex's dad?" Piper says and immediately regrets it when she notices that Alex has stopped eating her sandwich and puts it down on the plate without swallowing, while her mom stands frozen in place for a few seconds. "Shit, shit! Sorry, you don't have to answer that"

Alex finally swallows the bread and fixes her glasses before she finally breaks the silence "I don't have a father" she walks up to her mother and wraps an arm around her "I never needed one because I had one of this sovereign species here" she pokes her mom's stomach in a joking manner to reinforce her words and break the tension

Waves of relief wash over the older woman's body(because no matter how old your child is, you will always, _always_ question the mistakes and wrong decisions you've made, and the older Vause was no exception to that rule). However, hearing her own child say that she doesn't hold any grudges for the struggles they've been through, for all that moving around, the lack of money to buy anything or even afford school trips, not to mention the constant cheap noodles that they insisted on thinking weren't bad for their health), she smiles proudly at her daughter and she finds her voice again "We had each other" then stands on her tip toes to kiss the top of her head "This used to be much easier when you were a little kid and not tall enough to play for the NBA" she smiles fondly and takes a deep breath then leaves the room as she says "Let me go get your gift"

Piper uncomfortably bites her bottom lip and walks towards Alex who now had her back to her and places a hand on her shoulder to turn her around so they were facing each other "Hey" she caresses her forearm "You alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" she smiles and places her hand on the younger girl's cheek, pulling her closer into a kiss. Sliding her other hand down her body to her ass, Alex squeezed it, causing Piper to let out a low moan then abruptly pull away

"Alex!" she whisper-shouts "Your mom is going to come back any minute now"

She starts kissing the blonde's jawline "So what?" both of her hands now on her hips, pushing the girl against the counter and smiling wide while looking into blue eyes "Are we supposed to hide?"

Grinning, Piper shook her head from side to side before grabbing Alex's face with both of her hands and kissing her.

"Also" she bites Piper's bottom lip "It's not like you wouldn't give it away"

"No I wouldn't!"

Alex chuckles "Yeah right"

Piper does her best 'offended' face and swats the brunette's hand from her hip "I'll consider whether you still deserve the gift I got you" she smirks and frees herself from Alex's hold, leaving her looking around the entirely messy room, filled with dirty knives and spoons, empty bowls of yogurt, bread crumbs all over the floor, an empty milk cart… And a very hungry and demanding Olivia meowing by the girl's legs to grab her attention.

And Alex feels that she belongs exactly where she is.

* * *

Wearing the jacket Diane had given her as the first Christmas morning present, Alex gives her mom a speech about how she didn't need to spend anything on her, especially not on more than one gift; she had also gotten her daughter a duffel bag filled with some simple household supplies that she knew they probably needed, such as pillowcases, blankets, some microfiber washcloths and other miscellaneous items. Basic, small household items that only mothers give enough thought about, especially when they missed being able to take care of their children on a daily basis.

"Diane, did you get her a shower cap too? I think she needs one" the blonde says with a grin on her face

Alex laughs and squeezes one of Piper's calves(her legs were on top of the brunette's), but before she can get up to run away from the instantaneous Chapman revenge "You little bitch!", the blonde runs off laughing until she reaches a wrapped gift and hands it to the brunette with the most mesmerizing smile on her face. "Merry Christmas, Al" Opening the box, she finds a beat up black leather case with a brass bee clasp lined with red silk, containing antique opalescent mother-of-pearl opera glasses. After fixing her glasses and inspecting them carefully, Alex shifts her vision back to the blonde that's now holding a few pieces of what looked like paper tickets;

"I know you don't need these for your job since you get those fancy seats and all" she bites her bottom lip, a bit insecure that it was a poor choice of a gift "but I got tickets for some independent plays that you'd never think to attend, and thought maybe we could go together…? And the binoculars could be useful for the cheap tickets that I could afford…"

Whatever this tingling feeling in her stomach was, Alex is sure she'd never felt it before. She hasn't gotten shy for over a decade now. She even felt embarrassed by how much she cherished the gift; at the same time, she felt so happy that her chest feels like it's not big enough to hold the emotions inside her or the rate of her heartbeat. No matter the simplicity of any of Piper's actions, they all affect Alex with the same strength of a hurricane. Getting herself back together, she smiles widely and kisses the younger girl's cheek, near the corner of her mouth, and tells her she can hardly wait for her company to watch the shows.

Alex then tries to shake off her emotions, trying to hide the chaos inside her mind, and hands her mother a red envelope before embracing her in a tight hug "Merry Christmas, mom"

The smile vanishes from Diane's face as soon as she reads what the pieces of paper filed inside say, her expression changing to some sort of disbelief and confusion "No, not taking this, take it back" she closes the envelope and tries to hand it back to her daughter

"Shut up, ma" the younger brunette pushes the envelope-holding hand back "It's not like I'm paying for your mortgage or anything"

"Alex, no, this was not the deal" she sighs and holds her kid's hand "You know it wasn't, baby"

Alex fixes her glasses and sits on the arm of the couch, facing her mom "No refunds. Just take it"

Piper had been staring at the exchange all along and, being the curious bug that she's always been, pinching herself not to ask what was going on, but was glad she kept her mouth shut until her roommate mentioned her name in the middle of the conversation she was having; "Maybe Piper could come with us. We can always bend some rules, right?"

She looks at her "Well, rules aren't any fun," then smiles "but wait, go where?!"

"To Cedar Point!" Alex says, as excited as a little kid would be

Piper lifts a questioning eyebrow at such excitement for something as simple as an amusement park, but Diane seems to notice and quickly barges in "Alex has wanted to go there since she was around 8. That's what she always asked for on Christmas or birthdays, but I was never able to afford the whole plane tickets, hotel and admissions combo, but we still promised each other we'd go someday"

"And now we can finally go together so don't you dare say 'no'!" Alex pushes the envelope to her mother's hand and looks at her pleadingly, in a silent beg, until both of them start simultaneously smiling and Diane grabs her daughter's arm, pulling her child on top of her on the couch and into a very tight hug.

Taking advantage of the closeness, she decides to whisper in Alex's ear "Don't pull another one like this on me, kiddo. Your mama's heart ain't as strong as it used to be, okay" she takes a deep breath

"Ma, it's o-"

"Just shut up" she kisses Alex's forehead "I'm sorry you were the one that had to buy the tickets" she takes a deep sigh, holding back a tear "I love you, baby"

"I love you too, mom"

Standing up to shake the emotions off, the older brunette grabs a thin gift box and hands it to the blonde "It doesn't have any financial value, but I hope you enjoy it. Merry Christmas!"

"Diane, you didn't have to… I-I didn't know you were coming, so I didn't get you anything, fuck, this is embarrassing, I'm sorry-" she rambles while opening the package that reveals an old and beat up notebook, with dozens of handwritten recipes and notes, and folds through the pages, carefully inspecting their contents

"It was my grandmother's recipe book" Diane says "I know you can find everything online these days, but Al mentioned that you had a thing for used books, so…"

"Oh, wow" the blonde stands in shock, almost motionless "Wow, this is incredible, I-thank you!" she stands up and hugs the older woman, still holding the book in her hand

"I'm glad you like it, love" she hugs the girl back "Now spill it, what did my spawn get you?"

Showing the perfectly straight and white teeth smile, Piper points to the ornament around her neck. Impressed, the older woman inspects the pendant and tries to figure out if it's supposed to represent something that 'the kids use on the internet and makes no sense to anyone past 40', when the blonde breaks the silence "it means she's willing to break her rules for me"

Ignoring the _very_ questioning and shocked expression on her mother's face, Alex decides she's done acting like an insecure and immature teenager. Her whole life she'd always been very certain of what she'd done and never afraid to admit and take responsibility for her actions – and she had already slipped too much on that path when it came to her relationship with Piper so far. No. This 'little scared' version of Alex was over for good.

Wrapping an arm around her roommate and kissing her temple, she nods at her mother, reassuring that the meaning of the lines craved on the pendant was correct. Piper was different. And Piper was turning Alex into a different person. "It's exactly what it looks like"

Standing in shock at her daughter's change of behavior, seeing as in 28 years she had never formally introduced her mom to any of her hook ups(she had only met a couple girls when she walked in on them kissing; and would give anything to un-see that[thank goodness they were still just kissing]). It was hard to process the thought of her daughter opening up to someone to that extent; fully committing herself to a relationship, very uncharacteristic, but then she snapped out of it "You know what, Piper? Maybe your folks were right, alcohol doesn't sound so bad right now! I think I need a drink. Do you two need a drink? Of course you do. I'm going to make us some drinks!"

"Thought you were hungover, ma?"

"Liquor before beer, in the clear! That's how I'll start today" she starts walking towards the kitchen "And get me one of those cigarettes that I know you're hiding somewhere!"

With Alex's arm still wrapped around her waist, Piper turns her body to face her "Is she ok?"

The taller girl chuckles "She'll be fine" she pulls the blonde closer by squeezing her hip and sucks on her neck, causing the blonde to hide her face on Alex's neck with a giddy smile, before the shorter girl grabbed her face with both hands, sucking on her lip and passionately kissing her

"Getting frisky, uh?" Alex smiles into their kiss, not breaking away

Piper bites the brunette's bottom lip and holds it with her teeth for a few seconds while looking deep inside her eyes "You just told your mom that we're together" she bites Alex's neck a couple of times, sucking it to sooth the skin and whispers in her ear "And you have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to claim me as yours"

The statement sends shivers down the taller girl's spine so she backs the blonde up against the wall, one of her hands sneaking under her shirt and running her fingertips on her stomach and the other massaging her outer thigh, just under her bum, as their tongues moved in unison.

Seemingly on purpose, the noises in the kitchen become louder and Piper takes it as a hint that Diane is about to return to the living room(for crying out loud, both girls definitely don't want to stop now) – so the blonde roughly pulls Alex's hand from the hem of her bra and slaps the hand that was massaging her thigh, as fast and uncoordinated as possible, in a ridiculous(and obviously failed) attempt to pretend that nothing had been going on while they were alone in that room.

Diane walks into the living room with 3 different bottles wedged under her arm – vodka, tequila and coke – and 3 shot glasses in her other hand "Very smooth, girls" she places the shot glasses and bottles on the coffee table "I definitely didn't notice the swollen lips, the panting and, not to mention, the soon to be hickeys on my spawn's neck" she smirks and sits down on the couch "So… who wants to play 'truth or drink'?"

* * *

**If you guys are still here, I can only thank you. It means a lot, it really does. I'm really sorry for being terrible at updating. I still love your feedback, so if you don't mind, let me know what you're thinking about the story so far.**

_**As for Shaster and LJ and every other guest that usually lleave comments here asking for updates, I'd really like to get in touch with you, so if there's any way we can do that, please contact me. It's important!**_


	21. Chapter 21

As the bell rings and someone impatiently knocks on the door, Piper gets up from between Alex's legs on the floor to open the door, but with her hand on the doorknob, she questions "Who is this?"

"It's Little Saint Nick!"

Doing what Alex thought was the most adorable confused expression ever, Piper silently questions the two brunettes on what she should do, not wanting a robber or whoever else it was to break into the apartment. Alex is still laughing but manages to speak up "It's Nicky!". However, a lifted and questioning eyebrow remained on the blonde's face, until the second answer came from the brunette's mouth "My friend, Nicky. Midget, crazy hair, no manners…? Ring a bell?"

"Oh, oh! Ok!" she hurriedly unlocks the door and is faced with the short girl, covered in snow from head to toe, as she grabs a handful of it and places it on her chin, doing her best attempt at a snow beard while holding a whisky bottle up high with her other hand like a trophy

"Ho-Ho-Ho, motherfuckers!" she then shakes the snow off her face and head like a dog would do, spreading all of it around her and grinning "Forecast said we were gonna have a white Christmas. Well I just bought us a lovely cheap bottle of whisky so _**let it fucking snow**_"

"Nick!" Diane exclaims with a big smile on her face as she stands up from the couch "Get your tiny ass over here and give me a hug!"

"Your wish is my command, my queen" she bows down and proceeds to wrap her arms around the taller brunette who squeezes her tiny figure. Breaking apart, Nicky looks at the bottles on the coffee table "I'm assuming y'all had one hell of a party last night, eh. I'll let you know in advance that Marka, aka mrs Beelzebub, is still very much alive and my bequest is still going to take some time" she plops down on a cushion on the floor "Until then, if you three want to keep living and breathing, better invite me over next time you get this amount of booze"

"Don't call your mother Satan, child. I got these earlier today, we were going to play 'truth or drink'!" Diane looks around the living room and squeezes herself on the couch between Alex and the sleeping cat "But these two wimped out so we're just being old farts watching lame movies"

As soon as the words escape the older woman's mouth, a mischievous smirk is formed on Nicky's face "What do you say we start now and get warm and fuzzy?"

"I think I'll pass" Alex interrupts, while placing some blonde hair behind the girl's ear, with Piper sitting on the floor with her back turned to the couch, between Alex's legs, resting the weight of her head on one of Alex's thighs "Too hungover still"

Piper lifts up her head to look at Nicky and looks back up at Alex, her face forming into a sly smile "Oh, I'm fine with it! I'll play. Won't hurt to find out more about you"

Alex sighs and relents, smiling at Piper.

After Diane and Nicky eye each other for a second, the short girl curls her fingers into a fist and hits the air as she lets out an extremely loud whip sound with her mouth.

* * *

Throwing a red skittle up in the air and catching it with her mouth, Nicky chews on the candy with an open mouth as she speaks "Who would've thought, that out of any women in the world, blondie right there would be the one to get Vause wrapped around her skinny little yuppie finger"

"I'll admit she is the exact opposite of any women I'd ever thought would try to do that. And I said_ try_." Diane folds the pieces of paper that the girl had been writing the questions on "But I like her. I think she's _feisty_. And it doesn't seem like she puts up with too much of Alex's bullshit"

They both laugh at the statement and Diane's expression changes to a more concerned look, however she still smiles fondly at Nicky "What about you? Are you doing alright, love?"

The girl bites the insides of her cheeks and nods, muttering a nearly silent "I'm good", a very timid smile threatening to form on her lips(that she fought and nearly succeeded at hiding, but it was enough for both of them to know it was there and what it meant). Not wanting to focus on her own issues and, especially, missing out on the opportunity to tease her friend, she speaks out loud enough for everyone inside the apartment to hear "Although I'd be a LOT happier if your daughter had actually gotten me the right gift!"

Alex overhears from the corridor and leans the upper half of her body from the corner of the wall so she's within eyesight and then glares at her friend "You asked me for a fucking pet raccoon. _A living and breathing pet raccoon._"

Nicky shrugs it off like it's no big deal and throws the rest of the candy inside her mouth, chewing everything at once. "Fuck is taking you two so long to bring a snack?! Are you going to eat each other out before getting us anything?"

The blonde utters from the kitchen "I'm coming!"

"Good to know young Vause's still got it" Nicky nudges her friend's mother with her elbow with a satisfying smirk on her face, throwing the folded questions inside a pan(they made a note to buy a vase; until then, this would have to do)

Diane playfully slaps the short girl's arm and clears everything out of the small coffee table to make room for the food they were bringing in from the kitchen – bottles and shot glasses were lined up on the floor and cushions had been laid out around the table signaling where each one of them was supposed to sit.

The apartment's residents walk back trying to balance trays and plates before laying them down on the flat wooden surface. An assortment of pimento cheese gougères, gongonzola and fontina nachos with fennel and mint, homemade greek pita, edamame hummus, pan fried onion dip and several sliced pieces of vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini and celery stalks.

"Think you got 'snack' confused with 'The last supper', Chapman" she grabs a nacho and sticks it in her mouth "This shit is fucking delicious, but you should tone down on the yuppie hippie fancy shit, stick to simple things little Oreos dipped in PB and up your game next time"

"Well, that sounds disgusting"

"What, you've never dipped Oreos in peanut butter before?! It's like dipping pussy onto a pile of cash. Fucking delicious!"

The other three women roll their eyes in unison at the answer. This was certainly going to be interesting...

* * *

"Ok, this is an easy one, I'll start" Alex stares at Nicky "What's your most favorite fetish?"

The girl thinks for a couple seconds while staring at her friend, who lifted a questioning eyebrow at the action, until she makes up her mind "Shrink wrapping has always looked pretty awesome"

Piper quickly grabs her phone and googles that, making a horrified face as she hands Diane the phone so she can look at the screen and try to understand what the hell goes through that girl's brain. Shrink wrapping, seriously? No.

"Whatever, you asked, I answered" Nicky shrugs then grabs a piece of paper and unfolds it "Blondie! When was your most recent orgasm? Describe it"

Alex's mouth curves into a cocky smirk and she bites her lip in an attempt to contain it as the blonde's face transitions between ten different shades of red. She reaches out for one of the bottles, grabbing a random one and almost dropping it due to her nervousness and messily pours herself a dose, drinking it down in one gulp and trying to ignore the sound of laughter coming from the other people in the room.

Trying to change the focus of the game, Piper turns to Alex to ask her a question "What's one thing you find really irritating about me?" she looks at the brunette and points to the bottles "You know what?! Maybe you should drink. Go on, Alex. You need to stay hydrated"

.

Around seven questions later, Diane and Piper start feeling the effects of the booze the most out of the four of them; the blonde's quite a lightweight and she still had a lot of wine running inside her veins from the previous night. Diane's drinking days were now a part of the list of things she _used_ to do frequently, but doesn't have to anymore. She doesn't need to escape her reality as much as she used to while raising her child(and hangovers get progressively worse as you get older, she's learned).

Nicky grabs a pack of cigarettes from her jacket's pocket and lights it up, handing it to Diane so she could bum one.

The blonde notices her roommate opening her mouth and, suspecting that the words coming out of her mouth would be reprehensive, places her hand over Alex's intertwining their fingers and squeezes it. "Diane, it's your turn" the blonde then looks at her hand and at the pair of green eyes that was also staring at their laced fingers, until their gazes finally met and both of them smiled.

"Alright, foster spawn" The older woman takes a drag out of her cigarette and looks at the short girl "Name two celebrities you'd like to sleep with"

Alex barges in and doesn't let her friend answer the question "Can I just name them? Let me name them!"

"What? Ah, Vause, whatever. Go on"

"Zoey Saldana, but during her Avatar phase, around that time, because she was just sooo…" she closes her eyes imagining the actress, "But you might want her as an Avatar. An actual giant and fucking blue Avatar. Which is absolutely weird, even for you"

"What? It would be interesting!" she takes a shot "Don't knock it til you try it!"

"Whatever" she rolls her eyes "And Bjork. Or both at the same time"

Nicky nods "Pretty accurate"

* * *

Diane chuckles at the piece of paper and looks at her daughter, holding back a laugh "How many people have you slept with?"

She considers the question for a couple of seconds, her fingertip circling the tiny dosage glass "More than you need to know" she fills half of it with whiskey and swallows it down, wincing at the strong taste of the beverage.

"Gosh" Piper rolls her eyes at the interaction and nudges Alex's leg with her knee "Pour me some tequila"

Ignoring the visitor's laughter, Alex looks into blue eyes and smirks "Are you feeling a little thirsty?"

"Yes" she bites her lip and reaches out for the bottle that the taller girl is holding as far from her body as she can, but the brunette is having way too much fun teasing her

"Are you feeling a little parched?!"

The blonde nods as she tries to hold her laughter in, but eventually gives into the effects of the beverages. The girl starts laughing and grabs the bottle from the smirking brunette, taking a sip from the bottle, but before she could even swallow everything, Alex pressed their lips together and kissed her as a droplet of the liquor fell out from the corner of her mouth, until Piper proceeded to lick it clean. "I know some things, Alex. I've heard some stories" she winks

Alex lifts an eyebrow and smirks. Holy fuck, did Piper drive her nuts.

.

"What position was I conceived in?"

"Do you want the truth?"

"Yes"

"I don't even know _where!_ Could've been on the back of a tour bus, or maybe some club's bathroom, a Jacuzzi… Can you actually get pregnant if you're in the water? They didn't teach this stuff in sex-ed back in my days"

Piper hides the flushed look in her face with her hands, still uncomfortable with these kinds of questions being discussed with Alex's mother; even if she's completely different from her parents and can make all of the girls feel comfortable around her, she was still the woman that gave birth to and raised Alex, so how could it be possible for them to talk about sex so openly and casually? In her household, that was not something parents and children would talk about. Ever. But Diane and Alex were laughing and joking around, teasing each other… Maybe this was the right kind of relationship you're supposed to have with your children? Have them trust you enough to tell you everything and vice versa? Not having to ask your just as clueless friends for STD related advice?

A loud snap of fingers brings the blonde out of pondering and her attention is back to the people around her; "What?!"

"Your turn" Nicky hands her the pan that was filled with questions "Choose your victim"

She looks around, her hand wavering above the pan "Alex" she finally picks out a piece of paper and unfolds it "Wait, we're doing dares now?! No one said anything about dares!"

Alex shrugs "I'll do it"

"Ugh, fine. Jesus, who wrote these?!" she glares at Alex's friend who looks proud of herself then rolls her eyes and decides to get it over with "Take off your underwear until the end of this game"

Alex bites her bottom lip with a smile on her face and a lifted eyebrow, then stands up and walks towards her bathroom to resume the task. Quickly returning with black bikini style with a lace band panty wrapped around her finger, a smirk plastered on her face as she sits back down on the floor beside Piper.

As soon as the other women start chatting and asking more questions, making stupid dares and taking unhealthy amounts of swigs from all of the 4 bottles they had, Alex takes the opportunity to slip her panties inside the back pocket of Piper's jean shorts without her really noticing, due to her already inebriated status.

* * *

Diane to Nicky "I don't even know why I'm going to ask this… Have you ever had sex in my house and in my bedroom?"

"You mean in your current place?"

She stares at the younger girl "In one of the apartments we lived in when you two were teenagers"

"Oh yeah, definitely" she bites a piece of carrot and spreads hummus on some pita bread, chewing it and talking at the same time "I think I only missed the opportunity in one or two locations, but those one the temporary ones, when you two stayed at a couple of motels and shit"

Diane shakes her head and sighs "Well I'm surprised you didn't christen all of them"

Meanwhile, a certain blonde is watching the interaction with caution, analyzing her roommate's every move; the way she grabs a tiny piece of food from a tray or laughs at her friend's answer… Until she finally finds her voice "Was it with you?"

Alex lifts a questioning eyebrow as she turns to face her "What?"

"The person she had sex with in your old apartments, it was you, wasn't it?!"

Alex chuckles "You're adorable" she wraps an arm around the blonde and tries to bring her closer but decides to clear things up when she feels the girl's body stiffen up "It wasn't me, you idiot"

"With all due respect, blondie, but there's only room for one Vause in my bed" she signals to the older woman, who laughs and easily dismisses the hand pointed at her. "One day, Diane, one day!" she jokes

Unfolding a piece of paper, the eldest woman speaks "Well okay then, Piper… 'Do you send nudes to people you're dating?' What exactly are 'nudes'? Naked photos?" she held back a laugh at the confirmation and placed a hand over her eyes, shaking her head from side to side as if wishing the girl would choose to drink instead of answering, even if she knew that the blonde was way too intoxicated to be taking any more shots.

"No! No! Of course not!" she noticed the smirk on Alex's face and a thousand thoughts seemed to collide together inside the blonde's intoxicated brain. Did Alex think she was lame? Nah, had that been correct, she would've at least joked about it by now. Just then, she looks back up at her roommate/girlfriend(?) and gives her a small smile, instantly replied with a wink from one of her green eyes that stood behind a thick black pair of glasses. Ok, no doubt she was starting to get wasted.

Throughout the span of questions exchanged between two overly excited visitants, Piper's phone vibrated. She pulled it out of her back pocket and read it:

**From: Alex**

**Not even in lingerie?**

After typing a quick reply that only said "no :p", the blonde's attention shifts back to the game and the conversation that's happening in the room, until the gadget's screen lit up again

**From: Alex**

**Check your pockets.**

She does so and when she finds the black fabric, her eyes widen in surprise. She mouths 'how did you do this?!' to the brunette who just flashes her a cocky smile. A really fucking sexy smile… and all the desire she spent the day fighting to avoid in respect to their guests comes crashing back and taking over her body.

**From: Piper**

**You're not getting these back.**

* * *

"I dare you to take a body shot off Alex. If you want out of it, take two shots. No, make that 3!"

Still flustered from finding Alex's underwear in her pocket, she starts freaking out "What?! Nicky, no, that's not fair! I'm gonna be sick if I drink that much, I'm not a heavy drinker, I'm going to be sick and-"

"Well tough shit" the short girl grabs all 4 glasses and fills them up, each one of them with a different type of alcohol, then swallows one down herself "Drink up, blondie"

After taking a deep breath, Piper licked her lips and grabbed one of the glasses, quickly turning around and pushing Alex's shirt down, placing the drink between her breasts. She then lowered her head in front of her chest and made her best efforts to tease the brunette with a long and teasing lick on the skin above the glassware, without anyone else in the room noticing. Feeling Alex's breaths become heavier, the blonde placed her mouth around the glass and lifted it up, downing everything down in one gulp, her eyes never leaving Alex's lustful ones.

* * *

"I really enjoyed meeting you, sweetheart" Diane says as she hugs the blonde "Thank you for agreeing to spend the holiday with us, it couldn't've been better"

Piper smiles fondly at the older woman "It was my pleasure, Diane. You're welcome here anytime"

A loud honk sound coming from downstairs lets them know that Nicky successfully got them a cab; she'd ride with Diane to the train station so she could go back to New Jersey and then would head back to the apartment she used to share with Alex. The newly acquainted women break out of their embrace so Alex can say goodbye to her mom.

"Alright mom, give me a call when you get home"

"I'll send you a text" Diane hugs her daughter as tight as she can "I love you honey, can't thank you enough for letting me spend these past couple of days with you"

"I'll see you soon, ok? We've got a trip to go to" she smiles and opens the door for her mom

"Allie" Diane holds the door before it closes and smiles fondly "I couldn't be prouder of you. I meant it in many, many ways. Merry Christmas, baby" she then kisses her daughter's cheek and leaves, closing the door behind her.

.

The second the door closes behind Diane, Piper starts to freak out a little. She feels like a stupid teenager right now, but she can't help it. Taking a deep breath, she abruptly grabs a bottle from the floor and turns towards the kitchen as her voice trembles, beginning to ramble; "I-um-I'm just going to make us some drinks, some vodka, is vodka ok for you?"; not waiting for an answer, she messily pours the alcohol into two glasses and then grabs some cranberry juice from the fridge, pouring it on top of the clear liquid. Grabbing one of the glasses and turning around, she's surprised by the girl standing right in front of her.

The brunette grabs the drink from the younger girl's hands and starts pushing her against the counter with her lower body without breaking eye contact. They stand there for a few seconds staring at each other until Alex's eyesight finally drops to Piper's lips and her hand blindly reaches the closest surface, where she abandons the drink. "I think we've had enough alcohol" Before the blonde knows it, both of Alex's hands are on her hips, one thigh between hers and her mouth sucking and biting on her neck, reaching closer to her ear and speaking in a low voice "And I haven't had enough of you"

Threading her fingers in dark hair, Piper forgets her nerves and pulls Alex closer to her, because their current proximity wasn't enough. In fact, nothing was ever going to be enough. Desiring someone this much, to the point where you want to become one, that was scary and thrilling and so fucking exciting. She was done waiting. Meeting her lips and lowering her hands to the hem of Alex's shirt, she tries to lift it up, but stops when she feels the girl smile.

"Pipes" she breaks the kiss and grabs her chin so she can lift her face up a little and look into her eyes "We don't have to do anything if you don't want to" she pecks her lips "we can just make out like we did last night"

"That's not-I wasn't thinking about that" she wraps her arms around the taller girl, lowering her hand and fiddling with one of her belt loops to keep it busy, as she thinks of which words would best explain her thoughts.

"I'm just saying…"

"Alex" she grabs Alex's chin with her free hand and pulls her face to hers "The only thing that needs to be clear here is that _if you're mine_" she nuzzles her nose on Alex's cheek "You're _only _mine" she looks into the green eyes and bites the brunette's lower lip "I don't like sharing"

Alex smiles into their kiss "I'm only yours, kid"

* * *

**So this didn't turn out the way I wanted it to(wanted to write the game with many more questions), but after season 3, I just wanted to dive back into my story/seasons 1&amp;2 Vauseman while pretending that what I watched was just a bad dream. Yup, I refuse to accept what happened.**

**So anyway, I decided to post some fluff that hopefully will cheer you up a bit in case you had a similar experience.**

**Do you guys think their sex is gonna end better this time around? Hopefully it won't end up with another shower cap sort of fiasco, right? Right?**


End file.
